Spin-Density-Wave Distributions in Chromium and Chromium Alloys

Abstract

Two aspects of spin‐density‐wave ordering in chromium and its alloys are considered. First, hyperfine fields of magnitudes up to 100 kG have been observed to act on ¹¹⁹Sn nuclei incorporated as probes in a 0.4% manganese in chromium alloy. Mössbauer spectra obtained for both commensurate and incommensurate spin‐density‐wave phases are consistent with the assumption that the magnitude of the hyperfine field is directly proportional to the spin‐density‐wave magnetization at the nucleus. Second, measurements of the temperature dependence of the elastic properties of chromium have been made in fields up to 150 kG. Neutron‐diffraction observations on the effect of magnetic fields and stress on the distribution of spin‐density‐wave domains in chromium provide a satisfactory basis for discussion of elasticity data. It has been shown that a sufficiently high magnetic field applied to the longitudinally polarized spin‐density‐wave phase may result in a reversible transition to the transversely polarized spin‐density‐wave phase. It follows from the results that the spin‐flip transition of chromium is of the first kind.