Transforming Thermal Expansion from Positive to Negative: The Case of Cubic Magnetic Compounds of (Zr,Nb)Fe2

Yuzhu Song; Qiang Sun; Toshihiko Yokoyama; Huihui Zhu; Qiang Li; Rongjin Huang; Yang Ren; Qingzhen Huang; Xianran Xing; Jun Chen

doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b03880

Transforming Thermal Expansion from Positive to Negative: The Case of Cubic Magnetic Compounds of (Zr,Nb)Fe₂

J Phys Chem Lett. 2020 Mar 5;11(5):1954-1961. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b03880. Epub 2020 Feb 25.

Authors

Yuzhu Song¹, Qiang Sun², Toshihiko Yokoyama³, Huihui Zhu⁴, Qiang Li⁵, Rongjin Huang⁶, Yang Ren⁷, Qingzhen Huang⁸, Xianran Xing⁵, Jun Chen¹

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering and Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
² International Laboratory for Quantum Functional Materials of Henan, School of Physics and Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China.
³ Department of Materials Molecular Science, Institute for Molecular Science, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan.
⁴ State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
⁵ Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Materials Genome Engineering and Institute of Solid State Chemistry, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
⁶ Key Laboratory of Cryogenics, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
⁷ X-Ray Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States.
⁸ NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-6102, United States.

PMID: 32073860
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b03880

Abstract

Negative thermal expansion (NTE) is an intriguing property for not only fundamental studies but also technological applications. However, few NTE materials are available compared with the huge amount of positive thermal expansion materials. The discovery of new NTE materials remains challenging. Here we report a chemical modification strategy to transform thermal expansion from positive to negative in cubic magnetic compounds of (Zr,Nb)Fe₂ by tuning the magnetic exchange interaction. Furthermore, an isotropic zero thermal expansion can be established in Zr_0.8Nb_0.2Fe₂ (α_l = 1.4 × 10^-6 K^-1, 3-470 K) over a broad temperature range that is even wider than that of the prototype Invar alloy of Fe_0.64Ni_0.36. The NTE of (Zr,Nb)Fe₂ is originated from the weakened magnetic exchange interaction and the increased d electrons of Fe by the Nb chemical substitution, so that the magnetovolume effect overwhelms the contribution of anharmonic lattice vibration.