INVESTIGATION OF THE HARD MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES OF SM2FE17 COMPOUNDS WITH GA SUBSTITUTIONS

Compounds in the series Sm2Fe17-xGax have been investigated. Samples w ith x=0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 have been shown to form the Th2Zn17 structur e. The Curie temperature is found to increase from T-c=391 K for the x =0 sample to T-c=580 K for the x=4 sample. Further substitution of Ga for Fe decreased T-c. X-ray diffraction studies of magnetic field orie nted powders showed that alloys with x<2 exhibit:easy plane anisotropy while samples with x>2 exhibit easy axis anisotropy. The x=2 sample s howed a mixture of easy plane and easy axis behaviour. These studies i llustrate that the substitution of Ga for Fe in Sm2Fe17 can yield a ro om temperature uniaxial anisotropy while increasing the Curie temperat ure by approximately 190 K.