Microscopic insights into the disorder induced phase transition in FeRh thin films

By employing 57Fe conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy, we qualitatively determined the changes of the microscopic Fe moment of chemical disordered epitaxial B2-FeRh(001) thin films, where the chemical disorder has been induced by ion irradiation with Ne+. Apart from the initial magnetic splitting at 25.4 T an additional sextet contribution arises with an hyperfine field of 27.4 T. A comparison between the structural disorder and the temperature induced phase transition shows a similar change of the 57Fe hyperfine field as a function of the macroscopic magnetisation. This gives an indirect indication, that the metamagnetic phase transition proceeds via a defect-driven domain nucleation of ferromagnetic domains in the antiferromagnetic matrix, as it was suggested based on XPEEM and nano-XRD measurements along the phase transition [1]. We would like to thank the Ion Beam Center at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf for providing the necessary facilities and acknowledge the financial support by DFG (WE2623/17-1).
D. Keavney et al. Scientific Reports 8 1778 (2018)