Low-temperature heat capacity of dysprosium diboride

Abstract

Heat capacity C p(T) of dysprosium diboride is experimentally investigated at the temperatures of 5–300 K. On the dependence C p(T) smooth anomaly at the temperatures of 15–20 K and sharp anomalies at T m1=47.8 K and T m2=178.8 K are revealed. Anomaly at T m1 is caused, obviously, by ferromagnetic phase transition in DyB2. The lattice contribution to DyB2 heat capacity is determined by comparison with heat capacity of non-magnetic YB2. The estimation of Schottky contribution to DyB2 heat capacity is made, the scheme of splitting of the ground state of Dy3+ ion is offered.