Microcontact spectroscopy of dilute magnetic alloys CuMn and CuFe
Abstract
The method of microcontact spectroscopy is used to study alloys with magnetic impurities CuMn and CuFe in the range of concentrations 0.01–1 at.%. Minima or maxima (so-called zero anomalies) were observed in the microcontact spectra of these alloys at voltages ∼ 1 mV. The Landé g-factor for the Mn impurity in a Cu matrix was determined from the splitting of the minimum of the zero anomaly in a magnetic field. The quantitative calculations carried out agree well with theory and permit determining both the important geometric contact parameter ⟨K(v ,v ’)⟩, i.e., the averaged geometric form factor, and the characteristics of the alloy itself, for example, J/εF, i.e., the ratio of the magnitude of the exchange interaction energy between an electron and the magnetic impurity to the Fermi energy, from the microcontact spectra.