The Magnetic Properties of Certain Pt-Co and Pd-Co Alloys

If ferromagnetism is due to interaction between the electrons of neighboring ferromagnetic atoms, the effect on the magnetic properties of gradually separating these atoms is of interest. For this reason alloys of the Pt-Co and Pd-Co series were investigated. As the alloys were solid solutions, for small cobalt content the cobalt atoms could be regarded as partly isolated by the non-ferromagnetic atoms. The magnetic properties of these alloys showed a lowering of the Curie point and a decrease in the remanent magnetization and coercive force with decrease in the percentage of cobalt in accord with theory. An observed increase in the magnetization per cobalt atom is discussed along with recent theories of ferromagnetism.