Ac susceptibility of Ho (Fe,CO)11Ti compounds and their hydrides

The structural characterization and ac susceptibility behavior of polycrystalline samples of HoFe11−xCoxTiHy (x=1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11 and y=0, 1) intermetallics are investigated. All compounds crystallize in tetragonal ThMn12-type structure. The replacement of Fe by Co causes the lattice constants to decrease, while hydrogen insertion leads to cell volume expansion. A spin-reorientation (SR) transition from a uniaxial to cone/planar structure is observed for the HoFe11−xCoxTi compounds of higher Co content (x>7). By hydrogenation, SR transition appears in all samples due to relative reinforcement of Ho contribution to anisotropy. TSR values increase by Co-content because of the preferential substitution of Fe by Co atoms and consequently, concentration-dependence of contribution of transition metal sublattice to anisotropy, as well as that of Ho. The concentration-dependence of magnetization direction and hydrogen-induced SR in the studied samples are discussed in the framework of two-magnetic sublattice model by bearing in mind the temperature-dependent competition of their anisotropies and dependence of magnetic anisotropy on crystal field interactions.