| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1605894 | Journal of Alloys and Compounds | 2016 | 7 Pages |
•A series of Dy-Cu-Ga alloys containing 20–22 at. % Dy was studied.•Four individual DyCuxGa4–x–δ compounds were identified.•Electronic structure of the compounds was characterised by XPS analysis.•Effective magnetic moments of Dy ions were determined.•Values of magnetic moments are related to the crystal and electronic structures.
The DyCuxGa4−x−δ alloys (x = 1.2–0.05) have been studied by the X-ray single-crystal and powder diffraction methods as well as by the magnetometric and XPS techniques. Four individual closely related compounds identified here were shown to be the derivatives of BaAl4-type structure (tetragonal or orthorhombically distorted) with the increased multiplicity of their a and b sublattice constants, namely, I-DyCu1.25−1.12Ga2.67−2.80 (1 × 1), II-DyCu1.07Ga2.74 (3 × 3), III-DyCu0.92−0.76Ga2.84−3.00 (3 × 3) and IV-DyCu0.63−0.06Ga3.00−3.57 (9 × 9). All alloys studied are paramagnets at (300–650) K temperature range. The effective paramagnetic moment per Dy atom was found to exceed the value for the Dy3+ ion (10.65 μB). Besides, it increases up to 11.2 μB with Ga content increasing. Magnetic properties of these alloys are discussed based upon crystal and electronic structure changes.
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