Temperature effects on the magnetic behavior of nanostructured Al-Cu-Fe quasicrystals

Neciosup-Puican A.A.; Castañeda-Vía J.A.; Coaquira J.A.H.; Rojas-Sánchez J.C.; Quispe-Marcatoma J.; Landauro C.V. · Journal of Alloys and Compounds (2026) · DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2026.190504

Resumen

The temperature-dependent magnetic behavior of as-cast and mechanically nanostructured Al64Cu23Fe13 quasicrystals was investigated by combining structural and magnetic characterization. Mechanical nanostructuring was achieved by high-energy ball milling (0.5 h – 5.0 h), progressively reducing the crystallographic domain size from 613.9 nm to 18.8 nm while preserving the icosahedral structure. Magnetic measurements performed between 50 K and 300 K revealed that nanostructuring significantly enhances the saturation and remanent magnetizations, particularly at low temperatures, and increases the coercive field. The fraction of magnetically active Fe atoms increased by more than one order of magnitude, which is attributed to the increasing volume fraction of interstitial regions generated during milling. Mössbauer spectroscopy revealed a progressive broadening of the local Fe environment distribution without evidence of new magnetic phases, whereas ZFC–FC measurements showed the evolution from a blocking-like magnetic state in the as-cast alloy to increasingly correlated magnetic regions after nanostructuring. Scaling analysis demonstrated that the saturation magnetization, remanent magnetization, and coercive field follow power-law relationships with crystallographic domain size, revealing distinct temperature sensitivities associated with different magnetic mechanisms. These findings demonstrate that mechanical nanostructuring provides an effective route to tailor the temperature-dependent magnetic properties of Al–Cu–Fe quasicrystals through controlled structural modifications.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería