Change of Auger-electron emission from Ni-Pd alloys under magnetic phase transition

Abstract

The change of Auger-electron emission from polycrystals of disordered ferromagnetic NiPd₃ and Ni₃Pd alloys, under ferro- to paramagnetic transition, has been studied experimentally. It has been shown that the intensity of the Auger-lines, which are formed because of transition of valent zone 3d_3/2 and 3d_5/2 electrons, has local maxima near the Curie point T _C for the alloys. Thus, the sensitivity of Auger-electron emission to a magnetic state of the alloy has been established.

Keywords:

• Auger-electron emission
• NiPd alloys
• Sputtering
• Magnetic phase transition

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grants 05-02-17227 and 05-02-17870), the UK Royal Society (grant 15294) and INTAS (grant 03-53-5607) for their support. We are also grateful to A.A. Katznelson and V.S. Chernysh for supplying us with samples made from Ni-Pd alloys.