Low temperature crystal structure and magnetic properties of RAl{sub 2}

Journal Article · Wed May 07 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4859096· OSTI ID:22273936

Paudyal, D. ^[1]; Gschneidner, K. A.; Pecharsky, V. K. ^[1]

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1. The Ames Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011-3020 (United States)

Low temperature crystal structure and magnetic properties of RAl{sub 2} (R = Pr and Nd) have been studied using temperature dependent powder x-ray diffraction, magnetization, and heat capacity measurements. Unlike PrAl{sub 2}, NdAl{sub 2} retains cubic MgCu{sub 2}-type structure from room temperature down to 5 K, which is also confirmed from first principles electronic structure calculations. The magnetization measurements show both PrAl{sub 2} and NdAl{sub 2} order ferromagnetically at T{sub C} = 32 K and 77 K, respectively. However, the magnetization measurements show the former is a hard ferromagnet compared to the latter which is a soft ferromagnetic material. The magnetic entropy change obtained from heat capacity measurements at ΔH = 30 kOe for PrAl{sub 2} and NdAl{sub 2} are 3.15 J mol{sup −1} K{sup −1} and 1.18 J mol{sup −1} K{sup −1}, respectively.

• OSTI ID: 22273936
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 115, Issue 17; Conference: 55. annual conference on magnetism and magnetic materials, Atlanta, GA (United States), 14-18 Nov 2010; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ALUMINIUM
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE
ENTROPY
FERROMAGNETIC MATERIALS
INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS
MAGNETIC PROPERTIES
MAGNETIZATION
NEODYMIUM
POWDERS
PRASEODYMIUM
SPECIFIC HEAT
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0273-0400 K
X-RAY DIFFRACTION