Magnetic anisotropy of Tb1−xGdxMn6Sn6 compounds

Magnetization curves of Tb1−xGdxMn6Sn6 compounds (0⩽x⩽1) have been measured for aligned powder samples in the temperature range 4.2–300 K in pulsed magnetic fields up to 30 T. Temperature and concentration dependences of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy constants K1 and K2 and concentration dependence of the temperature of spontaneous spin-reorientation transition have been determined. Using these data, we estimated the contribution of the manganese and terbium atoms to the magnetic anisotropy of Tb1−xGdxMn6Sn6 and analyzed the origin of the appearance of field-induced first-order magnetic phase transition in these compounds.