Local structure and magnetism of Fe, Co and Ni doped Cr3Si

The lattice site occupation of 3d-type impurities in Cr3Si doped with Fe, Co and Ni were studied using the Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) technique, X-rays and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The EXAFS measurements were performed particularly carefully on the K-edge of chromium and cobalt. EXAFS data strengthened by simulations of the spectra show unambiguously that the impurities are occupying mostly Cr-sites. The magnetic state of the alloys has been studied theoretically using the Wien2k code. It is observed that if calculations are not carried out on an appropriately fine mesh of points in k-space, one can get the result indicating ferromagnetism although the overall magnetic moment per formula unit is weak.