Surface effects on saturation magnetization in nanoporous Ni

Abstract

Nanoporous Ni specimens with ligament lengths of 10-210 nm and specific surface areas of 0.03-0.58 nm-1 were fabricated by the dealloying of Ni0.25Mn0.75 alloy and annealing at 473-873 K, and saturation magnetization investigated in terms of their size dependence. Saturation magnetization decreased with decreasing ligament length or increasing specific surface area. This trend is the same as that for nanoparticle Ni. However, the saturation magnetization of nanoporous Ni tends to be lower than that of the nanoparticle Ni when their specific surface areas are the same. It is suggested, therefore, that the surface effect due to a noncollinear arrangement is enhanced by the surface defects in the nanoporous Ni. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.