Crystal-field interactions and magnetism in rare-earth transition-metal intermetallic compounds

Abstract

The description of basic experiments of the rare-earth hard magnetic materials, high-field magnetization curves on single-crystalline samples of Ho 2Co 17 and Nd 2Fe 14B is reviewed with the aim to derive parameters physically relevant on atomic scale. The anisotropic magnetic properties have been found to be of single-ion origin. The successful description of the rare-earth compounds Ho 2Co 17, Nd 2Fe 14B, Pr 2Fe 14B, ErNi 5, PrRu 2Si 2, ErRu 2Si 2 in terms of the crystal-field, spin–orbit and inter-site magnetic interactions proves the existence, in a solid, the discrete atomic-like low-energy electron structure that predominantly governs the magnetic and electronic properties. The macroscopic properties have been correlated with the atomic-scale parameters. These studies reveal the importance of the low-symmetry crystal-field interactions (high-order charge multipolar interactions) in description of the magnetic properties of 4f compounds.