Transitions from a Kondo-like diamagnetic insulator into a modulated ferromagnetic metal in FeGa3-yGey.

One initial and essential question of magnetism is whether the magnetic properties of a material are governed by localized moments or itinerant electrons. Here, we expose the case for the weakly ferromagnetic system FeGa_3-yGe_y, wherein these two opposite models are reconciled, such that the magnetic susceptibility is quantitatively explained by taking into account the effects of spin-spin correlation. With the electron doping introduced by Ge substitution, the diamagnetic insulating parent compound FeGa3 becomes a paramagnetic metal as early as at y = 0.01, and turns into a weakly ferromagnetic metal around the quantum critical point y = 0.15. Within the ferromagnetic regime of FeGa_3-yGe_y, the magnetic properties are of a weakly itinerant ferromagnetic nature, located in the intermediate regime between the localized and the itinerant dominance. Our analysis implies a potential universality for all itinerant-electron ferromagnets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]