A magnetic, magnetostrictive and Mössbauer study of Tb0.3Dy0.7−xPrx(Fe0.9Al0.1)1.95 alloys

The effect of Pr substitution for Dy on the magnetization, magnetostriction, anisotropy and spin reorientation of a series of Tb_0.3Dy_0.7−xPr_x(Fe_0.9Al_0.1)_1.95 alloys (x=0, 0.1, 0.20, 0.25, 0.30, 0.35) at room temperature has been investigated. It was found that the magnetization and magnetostriction of the homogenized Tb_0.3Dy_0.7−xPr_x(Fe_0.9Al_0.1)_1.95 alloys decreases drastically with increasing x and the magnetostrictive effect disappears for x>0.2, but the spontaneous magnetostriction λ₁₁₁ increases approximately linearly with increasing x. Moreover, the magnetostriction exhibits slightly bigger value at x=0.1 than the free alloys and is saturated more easily with the magnetic field H, showing that a small amount of Pr substitution is beneficial to a decrease in the magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The analysis of the Mössbauer spectra indicated that the easy magnetization direction in the {1 1 0} plane deviates slightly from the main axis of symmetry with Pr concentration x, namely spin reorientation. Comparing with the Al substitution, the effect of Pr substitution for Dy on the spin reorientation is smaller.