Exploring the antiferromagnetic coupling of Pr and Gd in Pr1−xGdxNi single crystals

Magnetization measurements were carried out on pseudo-binary Pr1−xGdxNi single crystals for x=0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.9. The magnetic transition temperatures and the effective magnetic moments estimated using the mixed compounds were found to vary approximately linearly with x. However, the saturation magnetization observed at the c-axis magnetically easy direction of PrNi exhibited a nonlinear variation against x with a minimum value at x∼0.25. The magnetic coupling between the Pr and Gd moments is found to be antiferromagnetic. A rapid increase in magnetization in higher external field, onset at 5 T, is observed for the intermediate values of x and suggests that there is a rearrangement of magnetic moments.