The magnetic moment distribution in some transition metal alloys

Neutron diffraction measurements have been made on a series of iron–cobalt alloys using both polarized and unpolarized neutron techniques. The magnetic moment on the cobalt atom is shown to be broadly unaffected by alloying, whilst that on the iron atom increases to a value of about 3 μB as the cobalt concentration increases. Polarized neutron techniques have also been applied to the iron–nickel system to remove an ambiguity in earlier results obtained with unpolarized neutrons; it is confirmed that the moment on nickel does not rise above 1 μB as the iron concentration is increased to 90%.