Electronic structure and magnetic properties of Y-Ni intermetallic compounds

Abstract

The local density of states at Ni and Y sites and the total density of states are calculated for the intermetallic compounds Y2Ni17, YNi5, Y2Ni7 and YNi3 in the recursion method. It is shown that the occurrence of ferromagnetism in Y2Ni17, Y2Ni7 and YNi3 is due to a peak in the density of states near the Fermi level. The temperature dependence of the spin paramagnetic susceptibility is calculated and the results are compared with the observed ones. The metamagnetism in Y2Ni16 and some local magnetic properties on Ni and Y atoms are discussed.