ANOMALOUS TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENCE OF MAGNETIZATION IN SM0.6DY0.4FE2 QUASI-BINARY INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS

Using magnetic and X-ray diffraction measurements, it has been establi shed that, in rare-earth intermetallic compounds RFe2, magnetic and st ructural heterogeneities can appear when one R metal is substituted by another. This is illustrated by the disappearance of the compensation temperature, the broadened X-ray diffraction lines and the less sharp decrease in the magnetic susceptibility near the Curie temperature in the quasi-binaries compared with the binary compounds. It is shown th at the larger the difference between the metallic radii of the R atoms , the more pronounced these effects become.