Anomalous Magnetic and Electrical Transport Behavior in Intermetallic Co<inf>58.5</inf>Ga<inf>41.5</inf>

A detailed analysis of the thermal and the magnetic field dependence of the magnetization and the electrical transport properties of Co58.5Ga41.5 prepared under different process conditions has been reported. All the samples show double magnetic transitions. The sample annealed at lower temperature (S1) shows heterogeneous behavior (structural and magnetic) with high anisotropy and exhibits maximum magnetoresistance at low temperature (-12.4% at 5 K on the application of 50 kOe field), whereas the quenched sample shows stronger magnetic interaction with lower anisotropy. The analysis of magnetization data suggests a shortrange ferromagnetic order. The itinerant behavior has been observed through the analysis of magnetic and resistivity data, and the characteristic spin-fluctuation temperature (TSF) for high temperature annealed sample (S2) has been calculated from a specific heat measurement.