Magnetoelastic effects in rare earth metals and alloys near magnetic phase transitions

Magnetoelastocaloric effects in rare earth metals and alloys have been thermodynamically investigated. It is found that these magnets, along with the ordinary elastocaloric effect, exhibit a giant magnetoelastocaloric effect near the magnetic ordering temperatures, which is proportional to the temperature derivative of spontaneous magnetostriction.     

The magnetic hyperfine fields of rare earth ions in metals

Data for the magnetic dipole hyperfine interaction of essentially single rare earth ions in metals, measured with different experimental methods, are collected and discussed. Depending on the host, the magnetic hyperfine field of these paramagnetic ions remains undisturbed by the environment, or it is enlarged, or weakened or can even become completely lost. If there are magnetic ions in the neighbourhood, the magnetic interaction can enlarge the hyperfine field of the single ion by a transferred hyperfine field. The reason of the demagnetization effect may be crystal field splitting and hybridization. The core polarization field of the free rare earth ions is redetermined from measurements of the hyperfine interaction in nonmagnetic metals at low magnetic ion concentration.     

Spin structure of some Sm-phase light-heavy rare earth alloys

The magnetic structures and ordered moments of alloys between Tb, Dy and Ho and Pr and Nd have been determined from neutron diffraction data on polycrystalline samples. The observed magnetic scattering is discussed in terms of the ordering on the hexagonal and cubic sites, respectively.     

The entropies of liquid rare earth metals

The entropies of the liquid rare earths are explained using hypotheses about the electronic structure which closely parallel some believed to be correct for the corresponding solids.     

Statistical mechanics of magnetic non magnetic transitions of rare earth ions in metals

Using a simple model, and by means of a phenomenological extension of the Green's function method, it has been possible to give a more precise mathematical footing to the ideas put forward by Hirst, Maple, Wohleben and Coles regarding the demagnetization of rare earth ions in metals.     

稀土掺杂对钴铁氧体电子结构和磁性能影响的理论研究

尖晶石型铁氧体是十分重要的磁性材料之一, 具有独特的物理性质、化学特性、磁学特性和电子特性. 其中尖晶石型钴铁氧体具有较好的电磁性质而被广泛应用. 本文基于密度泛函理论(DFT) 的第一性原理平面波赝势法, 结合广义梯度近似(GGA+U), 研究了CoRE_0.125Fe_1.875O₄ (RE = Nd, Eu, Gd)体系的电子结构和磁性能. 结果表明随着稀土元素从Nd到Gd掺杂体系晶胞的晶格常数呈递减趋势. 磁性能依赖于稀土离子(RE³⁺)4f轨道未配对的电子数, 掺杂Eu和Gd能够提高钴铁氧体体系的磁矩, 主要因为它们3+价态离子具有较多未配对的4f电子, 因而对磁性能的影响较大. 然而Nd 的掺杂对体系磁性能的影响很小, 这是由于它的离子半径较大, 导致晶格发生畸变.     

Size and anisotropy effects on magnetic properties of antiferromagnetic nanoparticles

Based on the Heisenberg model taking into account single-ion anisotropy and using a Green's function technique we have studied the influence of size and anisotropy effects on magnetization M, Neel temperature T_N, coercive field H_c and spin excitation energy of antiferromagnetic nanoparticles. The properties are compared with those of ferromagnetic nanoparticles. We have shown that the enhanced magnetization M and coercive field H_c of antiferromagnetic nanoparticles is a surface effect, which is due to uncompensated surface spins. Moreover, the shape of the coercive field curve can be significantly influenced by surface magnetic anisotropy.     

The magnetic anisotropy of samarium-alnico pseudobinary alloys

The anisotropy properties of samarium-Alnico V pseudobinary alloys have been investigated. With alloys containing less than 12.0 mol% samarium, the K₁ values are negative at 77 K and increase with increasing temperature to approximately zero at room temperature. The K₂ values remain positive at all temperatures. We do not find the easy cone that has long been thought to be existed in those alloys with K₁ < 0 and K₂ #62; 0. In alloys with samarium contents between 13.3 and 19.0 mol%, the K₁ and K₂ values are positive at all temperatures. The anisotropy fields are not changed monotonically in the whole range of 10.1 to 19.0 mol% of samarium. It is concluded that the alloys are characteristics in thermodynamically of first-order transition. We have found that the “hard cone” exists in each of those alloys with samarium content more than 16.0 mol% and at temperatures above 77 K. The alloys with samarium less that 13.4 mol% also have “hard cone” under 77 K. However, the observed “hard cone” is different from the well known one in the first-order magnetization process, and it will collapse to the easy axis when the measuring field and temperature increase while under room temperature.     

Hydrostatic pressure and hexagonal magnetic anisotropy of hematite

The effect of hydrostatic pressure on the hexagonal basal magnetic anisotropy of a rhombohedral easy-plane weak ferromagnet is investigated in terms of the thermodynamic theory. It is shown that the contribution to the hexagonal anisotropy is determined by the effective constants of the uniaxial and cubic anisotropy, which include the additions proportional to the hydrostatic pressure. The hydrostatic pressure, which leads to the basal anisotropy observed in experiments for stressed samples, is determined for hematite.     

The contribution of 5d electrons to the saturation magnetic moments and magnetic hyperfine fields in the heavy rare earth metals

The main results of a model for 5d electrons in the heavy rare earth metals are presented. The model involves the use of wave functions based on published analyses for 4fⁿ5d6s² atomic configurations, and the spreading of each of these energy levels uniformly over a band of width W in the metals. Excess saturation magnetic moments above those of the tripositive ions can be explained by the model with W in the range 0.84±0.16eV in the five metals Gd, Tb, Dy, Er and Tm. The magnetic hyperfine fields in the metals include negative contributions from the 5d electrons which have been shown to amount to about ?250koe in Gd, Er and Tm.     

Influence of rare earth Ce on structural, electrical and magnetic properties of Sr based W-type hexagonal ferrites

A series of single phase W-type Sr_3−xCe_xFe₁₆O₂₇ (x=0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.10) hexagonal ferrites prepared by the Sol-Gel method was sintered at 1050 °C for 5 h. The X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that all the samples belong to the family of W-type hexagonal ferrites. The c/a ratio falls in the range of W-type hexagonal ferrites. The grain size was measured by SEM varies from 0.7684 to 0.4366 μm which shows that the Ce³⁺ substituted samples have smaller grain size than pure ferrite Sr₃Fe₁₆O₂₇ which results from the difference in ionic radii of Ce³⁺ (1.034 Å) and Sr²⁺ (1.12 Å). The room temperature resistivity of the present samples varies from 6.5×10⁸ to 272×10⁸ Ω-cm. The coercivity increases from 1370 to 1993 Oe which is consistent with the decrease in grain size. The coercivity values indicate that the present samples fall in the range of hard ferrites. The large value of H_c may be due to domain wall pinning at the grain boundaries.     

Melting of the rare earth metals and f-electron delocalization

Melting curves for Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, and Y were measured in a diamond-anvil-cell to nearly 100 GPa and 4000 K. f-electron volume collapses are observed as triple points for Pr (24 GPa and 1400 K) and Gd (65 GPa and 3100 K). These pressures coincide with the volume collapses observed at room temperature. For Nd and Sm, the f-electron volume collapse has not been observed at room temperature but appears at approximately 2000-2500 K as a broad minimum in the melting curve, similar to that of Ce, near 50 GPa (Nd) and 70 GPa (Sm). The melting curve of Y goes smoothly along the entire rare earth sequence.     

Dynamic magnetic properties of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic Heusler alloys

Inelastic neutron scattering measurements on a ferromagnetic Heusler alloy, Pd₂MnIn_1?xSn_x at the composition x = 0.75, have established the spin wave dispersion in the three principal symmetry directions. The results have been interpreted using a simple Heisenberg model in which the exchange constants are of long range, extending beyond 12 Å. The Curie temperature, spin wave stiffness constant and the thermal variation of the magnetisation, calculated using the derived exchange parameters are in close agreement with observation.Anomalies in the spin wave dispersion, which are also present to a lesser degree in Pd₂MnSn, have been interpreted as precursor effects associated with the onset of antiferromagnetic ordering, type AF3A, which is the magnetic structure observed in the range 0.2 ? x ? 0.6.     

The electric field gradient in heavy rare earth metals

Estimates of the electric field gradient in heavy rare earth metals have been evaluated from experimental hyperfine interaction data. In addition, the magnetic hyperfine fields are analyzed. In the metals the effective radial integrals 〈r ^?3〉_4f of the magnetic and quadrupole hyperfine interaction are reduced at most by 10% compared with the free ion values. The electric field gradients due to the crystalline field have been found to be 200 times larger than those predicted from point charge calculations. This antishielding effect can be explained by an enhanced conduction electron density at the interstitial sites and an increase of the Sternheimer factor γ_∞ in the metallic environment.     

稀土合金RCo5中稀土离子的磁晶各向异性

利用单粒子点电荷模型研究了RCo5中一系列稀土离子,包括轻离子Pr3+,Nd3+和重离子Tb3+,Dy3+,Er3+的磁晶各向异性.计算分析表明过渡族元素对晶场的贡献和晶场高阶项不可忽略, 虑及过渡族元素和晶场高阶项对晶场的贡献后,得到的各稀土离子的磁晶各向异性常数及其随温度变化都与实验一致的结果,此结果还特别解释了以前不能解释的轻稀土离子Pr3+的易锥向取向.