This work describes the preparation of ternary nanoparticles based on the Heusler compound Co2FeGa. Nanoparticles with sizes of about 20 nm were synthesized by reducing a methanol impregnated mixture of CoCl2 · 6H2O, Fe(NO3)3 · 9H2O and Ga(NO3)3 · xH2O after loading on fumed silica. The dried samples were heated under pure H2 gas at 900 °C. The obtained nanoparticles—embedded in silica—were investigated by means of x-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy, temperature dependent magnetometry and Mößbauer spectroscopy. All methods clearly revealed the Heusler-type L21 structure of the nanoparticles. In particular, anomalous XRD data demonstrate the correct composition in addition to the occurrence of the L21 structure. The magnetic moment of the particles is about 5μB at low temperature in good agreement with the value of bulk material. This suggests that the half-metallic properties are conserved even in particles on the 10 nm scale.

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In this contribution, we report the chemical synthesis of carbon coated, silica supported Co2FeGa (Co2FeGa-SiO2@C) nanocomposite particles. The particle size of Co2FeGa particles can be tuned by varying the amount of silica supports. The dependences of the crystal structure and magnetic properties on particle size have been investigated by synchrotron radiation based X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscope (TEM), 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). The superparamagnetic critical size of Co2FeGa Heusler nanoparticles is found to be ∼17 nm by correlating the TEM derived particle size distribution to the Mössbauer spectroscopy data. The effects of silica supports and carbon coating on the formation of Co2FeGa nanoparticles of various sizes are also discussed.

Keywords:Heusler compounds / Crystal structure / X-ray diffraction / Magnetic properties / Electronic structure We report the quaternary Heusler compound derivatives CoFe 1+x Ti 1-x Al and CoMn 1+x V 1-x Al, which do not have centers of inversion. Classical T 2 TЈM (T, TЈ = transition metal, M = main group element) Heusler compounds (prototype: Cu 2 MnAl) crystallize in the L2 1 structure, space group Fm3m (225) that exhibits a center of inversion. Replacing one of the T 2 atoms by another transition element (TЈЈ) results in a quaternary TTЈTЈЈM compound with F43m symmetry (Y; structure type LiMgPdSn) without center of inversion. In the case of "quasi closed shell" compounds with 24 valence electrons

X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) of core-level absorption (x-ray absorption spectroscopy, XAS) spectra in the soft x-ray region has been measured for the ferromagnetic Heusler alloy Rh2MnGe at the Rh M3,2 and Mn L3,2 edges. The ratio of Rh and Mn spin moments amounts to 0.05 which is smaller than the ratio of 0.1 determined by a local density approximation electronic band structure calculation. We have found that the orbital moments of the Rh 4d and Mn 3d states are very small. The observed Rh 2p XAS spectrum can be understood on the basis of the Rh 3d partial density of unoccupied states as is typical for metals. The observed features of the Mn 2p XAS and XMCD spectra are dominated by final state multiplets as is typical for oxides. The comparison of experimental and ab initio calculated XAS/XMCD spectra reveals a strong narrowing of the Mn 3d bands, indicating strongly localized Mn moments. The magnetic moments are considerably more localized for Rh2MnGe in comparison with the isoelectronic compound Co2MnGe. In spite of the strong localization of the Mn moment, the temperature dependences of sublattice magnetization are equal for the Mn and Rh sublattices in contrast to the prediction by a Heisenberg model. This might be attributed to the remaining itinerant character of the Rh moment.