Magnetic Properties of Non-Stoichiometric RNi2Mnx (R = Tb, Dy) Compounds

Structure and magnetic properties of non-stoichiometric rare earth intermetallic compounds TbNi2Mnx and DyNi2Mnx x have been studied. It was found that for the compositions with x ≤ 1 the alloys retain the single-phase cubic structure despite the fact that the rare earth-to-3d metal ratio changes from 1:2 to 1:3. Magnetic measurements revealed that the Mn alloying leads to a substantial growth of the Curie temperature with a maximum at x ~ 0.5. At low temperatures the magnetization reversal of the Mn-containing samples is characterized by a considerable hysteresis caused by pinning of narrow domain walls by the structure defects. The observed experimental data are discussed within the assumption on a local distortion of the crystal electric field and the formation of a non-collinear magnetic structure of the rare earth sublattice.