Magnetic studies in amorphous GdxY1−x alloys

We report here our magnetic study on amorphous Gd_xY_1?x alloys with x = 0.17 and 0.70. The alloy with x = 0.17 is paramagnetic down to 4.2 K. For x = 0.70, magnetization shows a peak in low magnetic fields (H < 0.3 T). Magnetic saturation is difficult to obtain even for fields up to 15 T. An extrapolated value gives a moment of $\text{6.2 μ}{}_{\mathrm{B}}\text{Gd at}$. T_c is about 70 K. This led us to the conclusion that ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic clusters are present in this alloy. The results are discussed by comparing them with crystalline Gd-Y alloys and amorphous Gd-Al, Gd-Au, etc. The effect of Y seems to be specific.