Magnetoelasticity of (Lu0.8Ce0.2)2Fe17 intermetallic compound

Study of magnetostriction of (Lu0.8Ce0.2)2Fe17 has been performed by two methods, bulk and microscopic: by the capacitor dilatometer on a single crystal grown by the Czochralski method and by the X-ray powder diffraction. The field-induced transition from the antiferromagnetic to the ferromagnetic state is accompanied by the lattice expansion both in the basal plane and along the c-axis of the hexagonal structure. In addition to the spontaneous linear magnetostriction λas=0.8×10−3, λcs=6.8×10−3 along the a and c axes, respectively, and volume effect ωs = 8.4 × 10−3, a comparable field-induced magnetostriction (λa = 1.3 × 10−3, λc = 3.4 × 10−3, ω = 6.0 × 10−3) is observed in a field of 5 T applied along the a-axis.