ANTIFERROMAGNETIC AND QUADRUPOLAR INTERACTIONS IN RARE-EARTH INTERMETALLICS

NdZn and DyCu are two compounds (CsCl-type) illustrating the effects o f high-order pair interactions on magnetic structures. They both displ ay multiaxial orderings resulting in complex (H, T) phase diagrams. Th ese diagrams are established using magnetization measurements on singl e crystals, neutron diffraction being the tool for determining the mag netic structures. For NdZn the calculations, including the quadrupolar couplings, give an accurate description of the magnetic order range. In DyCu, the magnetic multiaxial structures result from antiferroquadr upolar couplings, but to apprehend the (H, T) phase sequence needs the consideration of additional couplings. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A.