STRUCTURE, MAGNETIZATION AND MAGNETOSTRICTION OF SM2FE17-XALX COMPOUNDS

The structure, Curie temperature, high field magnetization and magneto striction of pseudobinary Sm2Fe17-xAlx compounds were investigated. Th ese compounds are essentially single-phase, having the Th2Zn17-type rh ombohedral structure for x less-than-or-equal-to 1.4. With increasing x, the Curie temperature of Sm2Fe17-xAlx increases monotonically where as the saturation magnetization and magnetic polarization at 4.2 K dec rease. The magnetostriction of as-cast Sm2Fe17-xAlx compounds is small er than that of the annealed samples with the same level of aluminium substitution. The as-cast Sm2Fe17 samples contain some alpha-Fe. The s uperior magnetostriction compared with the annealed sample is probably a result of the preferential orientation of the cylindrical arc-cast samples.