Spin arrangements in R2Co14B compounds (R = rare earth)

R₂Co₁₄B compounds (R = Pr, Nd and Tb) have been studied for evidence of spin reorientation in the temperature range 4.2 K − 1100 K with the use of magnetometry technique. It has been established that Pr₂Co₁₄BandTb₂Co₁₄B undergo spin reorientations at temperatures 664 K and 795 K, respectively. These are axis-to-plane reorientations with increasing temperature. Nd₂Co₁₄B undergoes two spin transitions as temperature progresses: one at ∼ 34 K (cone-to-axis) and the second at ∼ 546 K (axis-to-plane). A diagram of spin arrangements observed in all existing R₂Co₁₄B compounds has been constructed.     

Magnetic properties of some RCo2B2 and RCo4B4 compounds

RCo₂B₂ (R=Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd) and RCo₄B₄ (R=Pr, Nd, Sm) compounds have been investigated by X-ray and magnetometry techniques in the temperature range 4.2-300 K. These compounds crystallize in tetragonal crystal structures of the types CeAl₂Ga₂ and CeCo₄B₄, respectively, with lattice parameters decreasing for increasing atomic weight of the rare earth ion. All compounds order magnetically with the Curie temperatures much below room temperature. Anomalous magnetic behavior is observed for RCo₄B₄ alloys.     

Magnetic properties of R3Co29Si4B10 (R=La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd and Dy) borides

The crystal structure and magnetic properties of quaternary rare-earth intermetallic borides R₃Co₂₉Si₄B₁₀ with R=La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd and Dy have been studied by X-ray powder diffraction and magnetization measurements. All compounds crystallize in a tetragonal crystal structure with the space group P4/nmm. Compounds with R=La, Ce, Pr, Nd and Sm are ferromagnets, while ferrimagnetic behavior is observed for R=Gd and Dy. The Curie temperatures vary between 149 K and 210 K. The Curie temperatures in R₃Co₂₉Si₄B₁₀ (R=Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy) compounds are roughly proportional to the de Gennes factors.     

Crystal field effect on the magnetic moment's direction of rare earth ions with low point symmetry in r4co3 (r = Tb, Ho, Dy, Er, Tm) compounds

Neutron diffraction measurements, made on powder samples, show that Ho₄Co₃ and Er₄Co₃ intermetallic compounds are ferrimagnetic at 4.2 K. The magnetic moments of the 2 holmium sites are 8.7 and 2.1 μ_B and those of the erbium sites are equal to 8.7 and 8.1μ_B. The cobal⁺ magnetic moment is 0.2μ_B for both compounds. The easy magnetization direction lies on the hexagonal plane for Ho₄Co₃ while for Er₄Co₃ there are 2 anisotropy directions. Exchange interactions between rare-earth ions of both sites are very weak compared with the total crystal field splitting of the ground state multiplet J. The crystal field parameters are calculated and the magnitude and direction of the rare-earth magnetic moments in each site is determined.     

Hyperfine interactions in intermetallic rare earth-gallium compounds studied by 111 Cd PAC

Magnetic and electric hyperfine interaction of the nuclear probe ¹¹¹In/¹¹¹Cd in intermetallic compounds of the rare earth-gallium system have been investigated by perturbed angular correlation (PAC) spectroscopy. The PAC measurements, supported by X-ray diffraction, provide evidence for a marked phase preference of ¹¹¹In for hexagonal RGa₂ over orthorhombic RGa and of RGa₃ with the L12 structure over RGa₂. In the case of SmGa₂, the magnetic hyperfine field B_hf, the electric quadrupole interaction and the angle β between B_hf and the symmetry axis of the electric field gradient have been determined as a function of temperature. The angle β?=?0 is consistent with the results of previous magnetization studies. Up to T?≤?17 K the magnetic hyperfine field has a constant value of B_hf?=?3.0(2) T. The rapid decrease at higher T gives the impression of a first-order transition with an order temperature of T_N?=?19.5 K. In the RKKY model of indirect 4f interaction the ratio T_C/B_hf(0) is a measure of the coupling constant. For ¹¹¹Cd:SmGa₂ (T_C/B_hf(0)~6.5 K/T) this ratio is significantly smaller than for the same probe in other R intermetallics (SmAl₂ ~9.5 K/T, Sm₂In ~13.5 K/T).     

The intersublattice molecular field in the rich Fe−4f intermetallics

Some experimental evidence is given to show that the3d-4f spin coupling parameter is rather insensitive to the kind of the rare earth spin and iron composition in the R _n Fe _m intermetallics. The intersublattice molecular field has been calculated for the rich Fe–4f compounds on the basis of a value of 6.72 K for this parameter as derived from high magnetic field studies. This field affects the R magnetic moment and originates from iron sublattice in the R₂Fe₁₇, R₆Fe₂₃, RFe₃ and RFe₂ compounds. The values of the field for the new magnetic materials of the R₂Fe₁₄B type have also been calculated.     

Ferrimagnetism in CsMn1−xNixF3 and CsMn1−xCoxF3

CsMn_1?xNi_xF₃ with 0.3≦x≦0.5 and CsMn_1?xCo_xF₃ with 0.4≦x≦0.65 have been found to be ferrimag with a Curie temperature 50±1K. The magnetic moment at 4.2 K is 1.42μ_B per formula-unit for CsMn_0.65Ni_0.35F₃, and 1.77μ_B for CsMn_0.6Co_0.4F₃. The crystal structure has been determined to be rhombohedral; it probably has a stacking of twelve CsF₃-layers in the unit cell in hexagonal representation. Magnetic properties have been explained on the assumption that a Ni(Co) ion has a strong preference for occupying one of three inequivalent sites in the structure. It has been suggested that the magnetic moments of one-quarter of the magnetic ions couple antiparallel to those of the other three-quarters so that ferrimagnetism appears. The Curie temperature has been discussed in the molecular field approximation.     

Co-Si-B and Fe-Co-B amorphous alloys: Induced anisotropy and various magnetic properties

The dependence on the metalloid content of some magnetic properties of Co_100−x(Si_0.6B_0.4)_x (22.5 ⩽ x ⩽ 30) and Co₇₅Si_25−xB_x (10 ⩽ x ⩽ 25) amorphous alloys has been studied.Ribbons were subjected to different kinds of heating treatments: field annealing, stress annealing and stress-field annealing (tensile stress and longitudinal magnetic field applied simultaneously). While the anisotropies induced by simple field annealings are of the order of magnitude of 0.1 kJm^-3, the anisotropy induced by stress-field annealing can reach values up to 0.5 kJm^-3. The preferred axis is longitudinal for most of the annealing conditions. The temperature and composition dependence of the magnetostriction have been studied too.Stress, field and stress-field induced anisotropies have also been measured in Co₆₆Fe₉B₂₅ samples (λ_s > 0). In this case the preferred axis is transverse to the ribbon axis.     

Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effects in ferrimagnetic compounds

Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effects were studied in (Gd_xY_1?x)₃Co₁₁B₄ ferrimagnetic compounds. Rather high values of the entropy changes were shown in large temperature ranges. The ΔS values were correlated with high temperature dependences of resultant magnetizations determined mainly by the gadolinium sublattice one. Large relative cooling power was also shown.     

Exchange Bias in Layered GdBaCo<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>5.5</Subscript> Cobaltite

It is established that excess oxygen content δ influences the exchange bias (EB) in layered GdBa-Co₂O_{5 + δ} cobaltite. The EB effect arises in p-type (δ > 0.5) cobaltite and disappears in n-type (δ < 0.5) cobaltite. The main parameters of EB in GdBaCo₂O_5.52(2) polycrystals are determined, including the field and temperature dependences of EB field H _EB , blocking temperature T _B , exchange coupling energy J _i of antiferromagnet–ferromagnet (AFM–FM) interface, and dimensions of FM clusters. The training effect inherent in systems with EB has been studied. The results are explained in terms of exchange interaction between the FM and AFM phases. It is assumed that the EB originates from the coexistence of Co³⁺ and Co⁴⁺ ions that leads to the formation of monodomain FM clusters in the AFM matrix of cobaltite.     

Magnetic hyperfine field at s-p impurities on Laves phase compounds

Recent experimental results for the magnetic hyperfine field B_hf at the nuclei of s-p impurities such as ¹¹⁹Sn in intermetallic Laves phases RM₂ (R=Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er; M=Fe, Co) and ¹¹¹Cd in R Co₂, the impurity occupying a R site indicate that the ratio B_hf/μ_3d exhibits different behavior when one goes from RFe₂ to RCo₂. In this work, we calculate these local moments and the magnetic hyperfine fields. In our model, B_hf has two contributions: one arising from the R ions, and the other arising from magnetic 3d-elements; these separate contributions allow the identification of the origin of different behavior of the ratio mentioned above. For ¹¹¹Cd in RCo₂ we present also the contributions for B_hf in the light rare earth Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm compounds. For the sake of comparison we apply also the model to ¹¹¹Cd diluted in R Ni₂. Our self-consistent magnetic hyperfine field results are in good agreement with those recent experimental data.     

Temperature and magnetic field dependence of the elastic properties of rare earth-cobalt laves phase compounds

Ultrasonic sound velocity measurements have been carried out in order to determine the elastic moduli, adiabatic compressibility and the Debye temperature of polycrystalline rare earth-cobalt Laves phase compounds RCo₂(R = Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, ErandLu) and YCo₂ between 4.2 and 300 K. DyCo₂ HoCo₂ and ErCo₂ exhibit a first-order transition at T_c. In SmCo₂ and TbCo₂ the phase transition is of the second-order accompanied by a large lattice softening. NdCo₂, GdCo₂ and HoCo₂ show spin reorientations from one easy direction of magnetization to another one, at low temperatures, below T_c.The influence of an external magnetic field (up to 25 kOe) on the elastic properties of these Laves phases, the so-called ΔE effect was determined. No saturation was reached in SmCo₂, TbCo₂ and DyCo₂ in magnetic fields up to 25 kOe. The behavior of the RCo₂ compounds was compared with that of RFe₂, published earlier.     

Magnetic properties of paramagnetically doped crystals Fe3+, Nd3+ and Ho3+ in various compounds

In this work we calculate the energy levels, wave functions and transition probabilities for a number of compounds whose crystal field parameters have been determined. We introduce a convergence criterion in the diagonalization of the Hamilton matrices dependent upon a self consistency test on the eigenvectors. This assures us of numerically accurate wave functions.First we calculated energy level and susceptibility differences in (Nd³⁺)PbMoO₄ dependent on the multiplicative constants θ_n, used with the published A_l^m to determine the crystal field parameters B_l^m, (B_l^m = θ_nA_l^M). Calculated energy levels as a function of external magnetic field strength and orientation are compared with experimental results for three different sets of published crystal field parameters, B_l^m, for (Fe³⁺)TiO₂. The ground state energy levels, and wave functions, have been calculated for the non-Kramers Ho³⁺ ion in the crystals PbMoO₄, LaCl₃ and HoCl₃. Easily distinguishable variations in the temperature dependence of the X_zz component of the susceptibility are found as a function of the host crystal. It is pointed out that susceptibility calculations, based upon measured crystal field parameters, in conjunction with subsequent susceptibility measurements, provide a good check on the validity of the crystal field parameters.     

Influence of Si and Co substitutions on magnetoelastic properties of R2Fe17 (R=Y, Er and Tm) intermetallic compounds

The magnetostriction of the off-stoichiometric R₂Fe₁₇-type intermetallic compounds based on R₂Fe_14−xCo_xSi₂ (R=Y, Er, Tm and x=0, 4) was measured, using the strain gauge method in the temperature range 77-460 K under applied magnetic fields up to 1.5 T. All compounds show sign change and reduction in magnetostriction values compared to the R₂Fe₁₇ compounds by Si substitution. For Y₂Fe₁₄Si₂ and Er₂Fe₁₄Si₂, saturation behaviour is observed near magnetic ordering temperature (T_C), whereas for Tm₂Fe₁₄Si₂, saturation starts from T>143 K. Also, Co substitution has different effects on the magnetostriction of R₂Fe₁₄Si₂ compounds. In Er₂Fe₁₀Co₄Si₂ and Tm₂Fe₁₀Co₄Si₂, saturation occurs below the spin reorientation temperature (T_SR). In addition, in Er₂Fe₁₄Si₂, a sign change occurs in the anisotropic magnetostriction (Δλ) as well as the volume magnetostriction (ΔV/V) at their T_SR values. The volume magnetostrictions of the Tm-containing compounds show an anomaly around their T_SR. In R₂Fe₁₄Si₂ compounds, parastrictive behaviour is also observed in ΔV/V near their T_C values. In addition, the magnetostriction of the sublattices is investigated. Results show that in R₂Fe₁₄Si₂ compounds, the rare-earth sublattice contribution to magnetostriction is negative and comparable to the iron sublattice, whereas, in R₂Fe₁₀Co₄Si₂ compounds, the rare-earth sublattice contribution is positive and larger than Fe sublattice. These results are discussed based on the effect of Si and Co substitutions on the anisotropy field of these compounds. Influence of the spin reorientation transition on the magnetostriction of these compounds is discussed in terms of the anisotropic sublattice interactions.     

Estimation of T1 for Co2+ ions from temperature variation of the EPR linewidths for Gd3+ in Ce2Co3(NO3)12.24H2O single crystals

EPR of Gd³⁺ doped in Ce₂M″₃(NO₃)₁₂.24H₂O (M″ = Mg, Zn, Co) single crystals has been studied at various temperatures from room temperature to 77 K using ∼ 9.45 GHz EPR spectrometer. The observation of resolved Gd³⁺ spectra at room temperature in Ce₃Co₂(NO₃)₁₂.24H₂O has been interpreted in terms of a random modulation of the interaction between the Gd³⁺ and the Co²⁺ ions by the rapid spin-lattice relaxation of Co²⁺ ions. It is found that the effective spin-lattice relaxation time T₁ ∝ T⁻ⁿ where n = 1.85 (B∥z axis) and n = 1.75 (B⊥z axis) if 103 < T < 283 K.     

Molecular field theory analysis of R2Fe17C (R=PR,Nd, Gd,Tb, Dy,Ho, Er)

The temperature dependence of magnetization is analysed for R₂Fe₁₇C via the two-sublattice molecular field theory. The molecular field coefficients n_FF, n_RF and n_RR are obtained, by which T_C was calculated. Using the least-squares method, the fitted-form of H_R(T) varying with temperature for each compound is presented. The results are analysed. In addition, the parameters F=M_Fe²(0)n_FF/T_C was calculated for each R₂Fe₁₇C. By F, some phenomena different from the normal view were explained.     

Electronic structure and magnetic properties of Gd3Co11B4 compound

The electronic structure of hexagonal Gd₃Co₁₁B₄ compound has been studied by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) and ab initio self-consistent tight binding linear muffin tin orbital (TB LMTO) method. We have found a good agreement between the experimental XPS valence band spectra and theoretical LMTO calculations. Results showed that the Gd₃Co₁₁B₄ compound is ferrimagnetic with the calculated total magnetic moment M=14.29 μ_B/f.u. The values of the magnetic moments on Co atoms strongly depend on the local environment. We have also compared the electronic structure and magnetic properties of Gd₃Co₁₁B₄ compound with those of Nd₃Co₁₁B₄ compound.     

Influence of local environment on electronic properties of Co atoms in the Tm3Co11B4 compound

The electronic structure of the Tm₃Co₁₁B₄ compound has been studied by X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and ab initio self-consistent tight binding linear muffin tin orbital (TB LMTO) method. This compound crystallizes in the hexagonal Ce₃Co₁₁B₄-type structure (P6/mmm). We have found a good agreement between the experimental XPS valence band spectra and theoretical ab initio calculations. The calculated total magnetic moment is equal to 13.635 μ_B/f.u. The magnetic moments on the Co atoms are antiparallel to the moments of the Tm atoms. Their values are depended on the local environment, especially on the number of the Co neighbors. The theoretical results are compared with other calculations, saturation magnetization measurements as well as neutron diffraction data for R₃Co₁₁B₄ (R=Y, Nd, Gd, Tb).     

Magnetic effects in Co3−x O4 defect films from the data of emission Mössbauer spectroscopy

The emission Mössbauer spectra of Co_3?x O₄ defect films are measured in external magnetic fields at strengths of 0.6–3.5 T. It is shown that the memory effect is observed in the spectra of Co_3?x O₄ defect films after exposure to an external magnetic field. At temperatures above the Néel temperature T _N=26 K, the memory effect manifests itself in an increase in the relative contribution from the spectral line of the tetrahedral A sublattice in the spinel structure of Co_3?x O₄ crystallites ([Co _0.83 ²⁺ ]_tetr[Co _2.20 ³⁺ ]_octO₄ and [Co _0.95 ²⁺ ]_tetr[Co _2.10 ³⁺ ]_octO₄ prior to and after the magnetic field treatment, respectively). The isomer shifts δ and the quadrupole splitting ΔE of the spectral lines for both A and B sublattices also change from δ_A=?0.19 mm/s, δ_B=?0.31 mm/s, and ΔE _B =0.83 mm/s to the values δ_A=?0.24 mm/s, δ_B=?0.33 mm/s, and ΔE _B =0.60 mm/s, which are close to δ and ΔE for stoichiometric Co₃O₄ oxide. In the low-temperature spectra (T<T _N), the memory effect additionally shows itself as a decrease in the hyperfine magnetic field H _hf of the spectral component for the A sublattice as compared to that in the spectra measured prior to the magnetic field treatment. It is assumed that the concentration of cation vacancies decreases (and, correspondingly, the fraction of reduced Co²⁺ cations increases) in the Co_3?x O₄ defect films under the action of an external magnetic field. A possible mechanism of this process is proposed.     

The superparamagnetic response of a Co54Ga46 alloy to low d.c. fields

The low d.c. field susceptibilities and thermoremanence of a Co₅₄Ga₄₆ alloy are presented. A broad peak is observed in the zero field cooled susceptibility at a temperature T_B, which decreases with increasing magnetic field, while the thermoremanence is found to persist to temperatures greater than T_B. The behaviour is discussed in terms of the growth and subsequent blocking of superparamagnetic assemblies.