Crystal structure and magnetic properties of SmCo5.85Si0.90 compound

Abstract

The crystal structure and magnetic properties of SmCo7−xSix (x=0.1–0.9) compounds were studied by means of x-ray powder diffraction and magnetic measurements. Rietveld refinement of x-ray powder diffraction pattern shows that the as-cast compound SmCo7−xSix with x=0.9 crystallizes in the TbCu7-type structure with the space group P6/mmm, and the doping element Si has a distinct preference to occupy the 3g site. According to the refinement result, the composition of the compound is derived as SmCo5.85Si0.90. The compound SmCo5.85Si0.90 exhibits ferromagnetic order with the Curie temperature of about 717 K and a saturation moment of about 6.58±0.05 μB/f.u. The SmCo5.85Si0.90 compound shows a strong uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy, and an anomalous increase of magnetization at low temperature is observed in an external field applied perpendicular to the easy direction of magnetization.