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Magnetoelastic properties of RZn equiatomic compounds

Journal Article · · Phys. Rev., B; (United States)
The magnetoelastic properties of the ferromagnetic cubic compounds of heavy rare earths with zinc (RZn) are investigated. Lattice distortions occuring below the ordering point are particularly strong when tetragonal: For instance, DyZn exhibits at low temperature a spontaneous tetragonal strain expressed as c/a - 1 = +8.1%. All of these magnetoelastic properties are chiefly due to the crystalline electric field splitting of the ground-state J multiplet. But the tetragonal distortion observed in GdZn below the ordering point reveals pseudodipolar magnetoelastic effects to be important also; this contribution is taken into account for all the compounds. From our strain gauges and capacitance dilatometer experiments we deduce the one-ion and two-ion magnetoelastic coefficients across the series. The former ones are compared with determinations from ultrasonic measurements and their variation through the series is interpreted in terms of crystal-field theory. Finally, an attempt was made to connect these coefficients to the present knowledge of the conduction band in these CsCl-type intermetallic compounds.
Research Organization:
Laboratoire Louis Neel, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 166X, 38042 Grenoble Cedex, France
OSTI ID:
7283324
Journal Information:
Phys. Rev., B; (United States), Journal Name: Phys. Rev., B; (United States) Vol. 16:7; ISSN PLRBA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English