Stress-induced large Curie temperature enhancement in Fe_(64)Ni_(36) Invar alloy

Abstract

We have succeeded in increasing up to 150 K the Curie temperature in the Fe_(64)Ni_(36) invar alloy by means of a severe mechanical treatment followed by a heating up to 1073 K. The invar behavior is still present as revealed by the combination of magnetic measurements with neutron and x-ray techniques under extreme conditions, such as high temperature and high pressure. The proposed explanation is based in a selective induced microstrain around the Fe atoms, which causes a slight increase in the Fe-Fe interatomic distances, thus reinforcing ferromagnetic interactions due to the strong magnetoelastic coupling in these invar compounds.