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Title: Magnetic behavior in Mg-stabilized bcc. beta. -Gd and. beta. -Dy

Journal Article · · Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter; (United States)

bcc ..beta..-Gd and ..beta..-Dy, stabilized by Mg additions, exhibit spin-glass-like behavior. Both systems show field-cooling effects in the magnetic susceptibility which is indicative of spin freezing reactions. The ..beta..-Gd alloys order ferromagnetically (/lt/80 K) first on cooling before undergoing a Gabay-Toulouse-type reentrant spin-glass transition (/lt/50 K) into a mixed ferromagnetic plus spin-glass phase. Low-field ac susceptibility measurements show both the Curie and spin freezing transitions. Low-temperature heat capacity (down to 1.5 K) shows evidence of both ferromagnetic and spin-glass excitations. A magnetic phase diagram predicts a pure spin-glass phase for Gd concentrations up to 66 at. % Gd. The ..beta..-Dy alloys exhibit a cusp in the ac susceptibility characteristic of spin-glass behavior. Field-cooled magnetic-susceptibility measurements suggest a close competition between antiferromagnetism and spin-glass behavior. The occurrence of the maximum in the magnetic susceptibility at 1.4 T is evidence that some atoms may order antiferromagnetically. A large linear heat-capacity term which is probably due to both the electronic specific heat ..gamma.. and a spin-glass contribution plus the presence of large /ital T//sup 2/ and /ital T//sup 3/ terms support the mixed-state hypothesis. The metastable bcc Gd-Mg and Dy-Mg alloys are unique in that they have the highest concentration of magnetic atoms in a /ital crystalline/, /ital metallic/ spin glass (/gt/70 at. % Gd or Dy).

Research Organization:
Ames Laboratory and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011(US)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-82
OSTI ID:
6194669
Journal Information:
Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter; (United States), Vol. 39:16
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English