Magnetic Properties of DyAl2 and NdAl2

Abstract

The magnetic properties of two dialuminides, DyAl2 and NdAl2, have been investigated by neutron diffraction and susceptibility measurements. Both compounds show Curie-Weiss behavior in the paramagnetic region and are basically ferromagnetic below Curie temperatures of 62°K and 65°K, respectively. At low temperatures, the compound NdAl2 is a pure ferromagnet, whereas DyAl2 is almost completely ferromagnetic, but has the additional property of a weak antiferromagnetic ordering. The susceptibility measurements show an effective moment per molecule of 9.7±0.1 and 3.1±0.05 μB for DyAl2 and NdAl2, respectively. The neutron diffraction data show a rare-earth-ordered saturation moment of 9.1±0.4 and 2.5±0.1 μB on the Dy and Nd atom sites, respectively. The Al atom sites exhibit no measureable moment within the limits of experimental detection (0.5 μB). Both compounds show a temperature-dependent magnetic ordering process which obeys a Brillouin function. The experimental magnetic form factor for both the Dy3+ and Nd3+ ions diminishes more rapidly with increasing (sinθ)/λ than present theory postulates.