ANOMALOUS THERMAL-EXPANSION IN GD-BASED INTERMETALLICS

A study of the thermal expansion of Gd-based intermetallic compounds i s presented. The goal was to investigate the thermal expansion in magn etic rare-earth systems without the influence of the crystal held. In order to separate the magnetoelastic effect from that of the crystal h eld, Gd compounds have been selected. The anisotropic thermal expansio n of selected Gd-based compounds with various crystal structures has b een studied by means of X-ray diffraction. In compounds with lower sym metry, e.g. GdCu2 (CeCu2-type structure) and GdNi (CrB-type structure) , a huge anomalous thermal expansion has been found below their magnet ic transition temperatures. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.