Increased magnetic moment induced by lattice expansion from α-Fe to α-Fe 8 N

The rare earth crisis has stimulated researchers worldwide to (re)address questions concerning the magnetization and anisotropy of Fe based material systems [1]. As one of the possible candidates the α"-Fe 16 N 2 compound has been proposed. However, despite the numerous studies performed in order to clarify the magnetic properties of the α"-Fe 16 N 2 phase using powders, as well as thin film samples a unified picture has not yet evolved, and questions on precise M s , K u , T c values as well as the relation between N site ordering and M s still have to be answered. We address one such question, namely the origin of the reported high magnetic moments of iron in this compound where it has been suggested that the ordering of nitrogen atoms plays the key role [2, 3].