Pressure-induced changes of magnetic behavior of RCo2-type compounds

The diploma thesis is focused on the study of pressure-induced changes in a behavior of RECo2-type compounds. HoCo2 and its substitution of Si instead of Co in Ho(Co1-xSix)2, x = 0,025 were chosen as a representative compounds from this family of materials. Measurements of electric resistivity, heat capacity, magnetization and AC magnetic susceptibility under ambient pressure showed presence of three magnetic transitions for both samples: the change of the easy magnetization direction at TR ~ 16 K, the Curie temperature TC ~ 80 K and the flipping of magnetization of Co magnetic moments into the parallel direction with Ho magnetic moments at Tf ~ 125 K for HoCo2. Under hydrostatic pressures up to 3 GPa, the TR shifts to higher temperatures whereas TC and Tf, both decrease. This probably occurs due to the weakening of the Co magnetism and the strength of exchange interaction between Ho-Co sublattices. The experiment of muon spin rotation demonstrates a pressure influence to the decay of Co magnetic clusters, which occurs at lower temperatures with increasing pressure. It is evident that the hydrostatic pressure directly influences the exchange interaction between Co-Co