Magnetizations of iron-rich solid solution alloys with non-transition elements

The saturation magnetizations of body-centred cubic, iron-rich, solid solution alloys with copper, gold, germanium, tin and antimony have been measured between room temperature and 8 °K. Mean atomic magnetic moments calculated from the data decrease linearly with solute concentration. The rates of decrease of moment with solute concentration for the solutes listed are -2·0, -1·1, -1·4, -1·0 and -1·0, respectively. Only iron-copper alloys come close to fitting the dilution model usually considered appropriate for iron alloys with non-transition element solutes. The other solutes apparently cause an increase in the average moment per iron atom. The exact mechanism by which this increase occurs is not clear.