Magnetic anisotropy of Tb1−xGdxMn6Sn6 compounds

Magnetic properties of a GdMn6Sn6 single crystal

“…The GdMn 6 Sn 6 single crystals were synthesized by the tin flux method following the growth of previously synthesized RMn 6 compounds [3,14]. A mixture of the metals with an overall atomic ratio GdMn 6 Sn 20 was put into alumina crucibles and sealed into silica tubes under high vacuum (∼10 −6 mbar).…”

“…The R and Mn atoms occupy the 1b and 6i sites, respectively, while the Sn atoms occupy three crystallographic sites: 2c, 2d and 2e. The magnetic properties of these compounds have been extensively studied by various experimental techniques [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. In particular, neutron diffraction studies revealed that the magnetic structures of RMn 6 Sn 6 with non-magnetic R (R = Sc, Y, and Lu [8][9][10]) as well as with R = Er [2] and Tm [11] are incommensurate within certain temperature intervals.…”

“…As opposed to that, the compounds with R = Gd, Tb, Dy, and Ho were found to be collinear ferrimagnets everywhere below their Curie points [1][2][3]5]. The magnetocrystalline anisotropy of RMn 6 Sn 6 is determined by competing contributions from the Mn and R sublattices, which leads in a number of cases to spin-reorientation transitions [1][2][3]6,7].…”

“…Thus, the spontaneous moment at low temperatures is variously found to be between 5 and 6.5 B /f.u. [1,2,[5][6][7]12]. A yet higher value, M s = 8.5 B /f.u., is obtained if the atomic moments found in Ref.…”

Magnetic phase transitions in layered intermetallic compounds

“…6). The transition field can be varied by changing the alloy composition [11]. The TbMn 6 Sn 6 compound represents a unique example when the first-order field-induced magnetization process is observed near room temperature and in low magnetic fields.…”