Chapter 5 Magnetic properties of rare earth-Cu2 compounds

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the magnetic properties of rare earth-Cu2 compounds. The chapter focuses on rare-earth intermetallic compounds, the RT2 (R = rare earth, T = transition metal) with the cubic Laves phase structure. The magnetic properties of the RCu2 are affected by the crystal field (CF) effects. The magnetic ordering temperatures in the RCu2 compounds are low and crystal-field and exchange interactions are studied by varying temperature and/or magnetic field. Changes in the magnetic structure occur in most of the compounds below the Neel temperature and most of the compounds exhibit metamagnetic transitions below the magnetic ordering temperature. The metamagnetic transition in TbCu2 is a typical example of a single-step transition in a metallic system. The chapter presents the magnetic properties of 4f-3d intermetallic compounds. The magnetic properties of binary rare-earth 3d-transition metals intermetallic compounds with the transition metals Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni are reviewed. The chapter also presents a short theoretical consideration of crystal-field and exchange interactions of some important magnetic properties. Experimental results on RCu2 compounds are reviewed and a comparison of different RCu2 compounds is provided.