Nitrogen-containing compounds RFe11TiNx (R = Gd or Lu)

The structure and magnetic properties of RFe₁₁TiN compounds (R=Gd or Lu) containing nitrogen are investigated. Magnetic measurements are performed on a magnetometer in magnetic fields up to 100 kOe in the temperature range from 4.2 to 750 K with the use of RFe₁₁TiN single crystals, RFe₁₁TiN powders placed in a ceramic cell, and samples oriented in an external magnetic field. It is found that the nitridation leads to an increase in the Curie temperature and the saturation magnetization. The samples studied are uniaxial over the entire temperature range of magnetic ordering. The magnetic anisotropy decreases upon nitridation. It is demonstrated that, within the local anisotropy model, the decrease in the magnetic anisotropy constant K₁ can be explained by the redistribution of the electron density in the vicinity of the crystallographic positions occupied by iron atoms.