Rapid loss of magnetic order in Ni on alloying with Cr, Mo, Re, and Si

In this article, the variation of the Curie temperature T-c and the magnetic moment mu of Ni in the fcc alloys Ni(1-x)M(x) (M=CR, Mo, Re, and Si) are reported for concentrations x between 0 and 15 at. %. The decrease of T-c and mu with x reported earlier for NiCr alloys are also observed for the NiMo, NiRe, and NiSi alloys. The initial rates of decreases are about 60 K/at. % for T-c and 0.05 mu(B)/at. % for mu, leading to critical concentration x(c) similar or equal to 13% above with ferromagnetism disappears. Qualitatively, these decreases may be understood in terms of transfer of outer shell electrons of M atoms to the 3d down arrow band of Ni in the alloys. However, quantitative calculation of x(c) is not yet available. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.