Magnetic anisotropy and phase transitions in single-crystal Tb5(Si2.2Ge1.8)

The Tb5(SixGe4−x) alloy system has many features in common with the Gd5(SixGe4−x)system although it has a more complex magnetic and structural phase diagram. This paper reports on the magnetic anisotropy and magnetic phase transition of single-crystalTb5(Si2.2Ge1.8) which has been investigated by the measurements of M-H and M-T along the a, b, and c axes. The variation of 1/χ vs T indicates that there is a transition from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic at Tc = 110 K. Below this transition temperature M-Hcurves show very strong anisotropy, and it is believed that this is due to the complex spin configuration. M-H measurements at T = 110 K show that the a axis is the easy axis, and that the saturation magnetization is 200 emu/g. The b axis is the hard axis, which needs an external magnetic field much higher than 2 T to saturate the magnetization in that direction, indicating a high magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The c axis is of intermediate hardness. The magnetic properties of this material are therefore very different from those of the related Gd5Si2Ge2 system, in which the b axis was found to be the easy axis and the magnitude of the anisotropy was smaller