Abstract
Morphotropic phase boundary (MPB), separating two ferroic phases of different crystal symmetries, has been studied extensively for its extraordinary enhancement of piezoelectricity in ferroelectrics. Based on the same mechanism, we have designed a magnetic MPB in the pseudobinary ferromagnetic system of Tb1−xGdxFe2 and the corresponding crystal structure, magnetic properties, and magnetostriction are explored. With the synchrotron x-ray diffractometry, the structure symmetry of TbFe2-rich compositions is detected to be rhombohedral (R) and that of GdFe2-rich compositions is tetragonal (T) below Tc. With the change of concentration, the value of magnetostriction of the samples changes monotonously, while the MPB composition Tb0.1Gd0.9Fe2, which corresponds to the coexistence of R and T phases, exhibits the maximum magnetization among all available compositions and superposition of magnetostriction behaviour of R and T phases. Our result of MPB phenomena in ferromagnets may provide an effective route to design functional magnetic materials with exotic properties.
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