CHANGE IN THE ITINERANT-ELECTRON METAMAGNETIC TRANSITION BEHAVIOR BY ANNEALING IN LU(CO1-XALX)(2) LAVES PHASE-COMPOUNDS

The itinerant-electron metamagnetic transition under the different ann ealing conditions has been investigated for Laves phase Lu(Co1-xAlx)(2 ) compounds with a C15-type structure. The metamagnetic transition fea ture of these compounds sensitively depends on the annealing condition . The compounds with x=0.080 and 0.085 annealed at 1273 K for 168 h ex hibit a clear metamagnetic transition at relatively low magnetic field s, compared with the existing results. From both the metamagnetic tran sition behavior and EPMA, it is concluded that the anomalously broad m etamagnetic transitions reported previously are caused by the concentr ation gradient of Al due to the insufficient annealing. (C) 1998 Elsev ier Science S.A.