Discovery and implications of hidden atomic-scale structure in a metallic meteorite

Autor: Kovács, András, Lewis, Laura H., Palanisamy, Dhanalaksmi, Denneulin, Thibaud, Schwedt, Alexander, Scott, Edward R. D., Gault, Baptiste, Raabe, Dierk, Dunin-Borkowski, Rafal E., Charilaou, Michalis
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Druh dokumentu: Working Paper
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c02573
Popis: Iron and its alloys have made modern civilisation possible, with metallic meteorites providing one of the human's earliest sources of usable iron as well as providing a window into our solar system's billion-year history. Here highest-resolution tools reveal the existence of a previously hidden FeNi nanophase within the extremely slowly cooled metallic meteorite NWA 6259. This new nanophase exists alongside Ni-poor and Ni-rich nanoprecipitates within a matrix of tetrataenite, the uniaxial, chemically ordered form of FeNi. The ferromagnetic nature of the nanoprecipitates combined with the antiferromagnetic character of the FeNi nanophases give rise to a complex magnetic state that evolves dramatically with temperature. These observations extend and possibly alter our understanding of celestial metallurgy, provide new knowledge concerning the archetypal Fe-Ni phase diagram and supply new information for the development of new types of sustainable, technologically critical high-energy magnets.
Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures
Databáze: arXiv