Magnetic Phase Relations of RCo3

Abstract

In recent years, the rare earth-cobalt compounds with a formula of RCo 3 (R=rare earth) have received much attention due to their complex magnetic properties such as antiferromagnetic, temperature-induced itinerant-electron metamagnetism, magnetocaroric effect, spin reorientation etc[1-3]. However, these magnetic phenomena occur in low temperature regime. It's known that the binary rare-earth (R) intermetallic compounds RCo 3 crystallise in the PuNi 3 -type rhombohedral structure (space group R-3m). In this lattice, the R atoms occupy 3a and 6c sites, while cobalt atoms are distributed on 3b, 6c and 18h positions. In the RCo 3 compounds (except R=Tm and Y) the Co sublattice is in a strong ferromagnetic(SFM) ground state. Both the Co-Co and the R-Co exchange interactions influence strongly the magnetic state of the Co sublattice. In this study, the magnetism and relationship between the rare earth elements and magnetic property of RCo 3 in high temperature have been systematically.