Magnetic characteristics of <i>R</i>2Al and <i>R</i>2Au compounds

Abstract

The magnetic moments of some polycrystalline R2Al and R2Au (R=rare earth) compounds have been studied between 4.2 and 300 °K in magnetic fields up to 26 kOe. At high temperatures, the measurements indicate that, with the exception of the samarium compounds, the inverse susceptibilities follow a Curie-Weiss type behavior yielding effective moments in good agreement with the theoretical values for free R3+ ions. At low temperatures complex magnetic behavior including saturation, S-shaped magnetization curves, peaks in the σ vs T curves, hysteresis and remanence is exhibited by individual compounds.