Magnetoelastic effects in single-crystal erbium

Abstract

The authors have measured the ultrasonic elastic constants C33, C44, C11 and C66 and their associated attenuation coefficients ( alpha ij) for a single crystal of erbium as a function of temperature. They have observed anomalous behaviour in both Cij and alpha ij which they attribute to commensurate spin-slip structures as observed by Gibbs et al. and Lin et al. using synchrotron X-ray scattering and neutron diffraction techniques.