Ultrasonic study of dysprosium in a magnetic field

The ultrasonic attenuation of longitudinal waves propagating along the c axis of single crystal dyprosium is reported, as a function of the applied basal plane field in the paramagnetic region, and as a function of the temperature, at constant applied basal plane field, in the spin-spiral region. In the paramagnetic region, anomalous attenuation behavior is explained on the basis of competing spin-polarization and spin-fluctuation effects. Two anomalous maxima in the temperature dependence of the attenuation were observed: one near T_N is attributed to spin fluctuations associated with short range ferromagnetic ordering; another one at 130 K is attributed to a magnetic phase transition from a fanstructure phase, intermediate between the spin-spiral and ferromagnetically ordered phase