Alignment of rare earth moments in dilute Pd-Fe alloys

Abstract

Magnetization measurements were made on the ternary alloy system Pd 0.96Fe 0.03R.E. 0.01 for which R.E. = La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm and Yb in order to determine the relative alignment of the rare earth moments in the ferromagnetic Pd-Fe matrix. Those rare earths to the left of Gd were aligned parallel and those to the right of Gd antiparallel to the Pd and Fe moments. This is consistent with an antiferromagnetic interaction between the rare earth spin and the d-band of the host matrix since for the former J = L− S and for the latter J = L + S. Neutron magnetic disorder scattering measurements were also made on the Dy alloy and these showed only partial alignment of the available Dy moments. This suggests that the interaction between the rare earths and the Pd-Fe matrix depends on the local environment of the rare earth atoms.