The low-temperature magnetic properties of samples obtained by cold-compacting core-shell Fe/Fe oxide nanoparticles have been investigated, and their dependence on the structure, composition, and mean particle size D has been discussed. Samples with different D, varying from 6 to 15 nm, and different Fe to oxide ratio were analyzed by means of transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and magnetization measurements in the 5-300-K temperature range. The results support the existence of a low-temperature ͑below T 1 ϳ20 K) frozen, disordered magnetic state, characterized by a strong exchange coupling between the structurally disordered, spin-glass-like oxide matrix and the Fe nanocrystallites. Above T 1 , a different regime is distinguished, characterized by the coexistence of a quasi-static, ferromagnetic component, given by the Fe particles, and a relaxing component, represented by regions of exchange-interacting spins of the oxide matrix. As the temperature is increased above T 1 , the net moments of the oxide magnetic regions become able to thermally fluctuate and they tend to be polarized by the Fe particle moments. The above picture well accounts for the composition, particle size, and thermal dependence of the coercivity and of the exchange field, which strongly increase with reducing temperature in correspondence with the freezing of most of the moments of the oxide magnetic regions.

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A negative magnetoresistance was measured between 15 and 300 K under a maximum field H=70 kOe on two granular systems obtained by compacting Fe nanoparticles surrounded by an oxide shell ∼2 nm thick. The effect depended on the Fe core average size D that was of 8 and 18 nm in the two samples, as by x-ray diffraction. The maximum relative resistance change, about 5%, was observed at 50 K in the sample with smaller D. The results have been interpreted considering intraparticle and interparticle magnetic correlations and microscopic mechanisms similar to those responsible for the magnetoresistance in other granular systems.