Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1813756 Physica B: Condensed Matter 2010 6 Pages PDF
Abstract

Magnetic phase transitions in the rare-earth intermetallic compound Nd5Ge3 have been investigated using a single crystal. Magnetic measurements confirm that Nd5Ge3 is in the antiferromagentic state below TN=51 K, in literature. An irreversible magnetic-field-induced antiferromagentic to ferromagnetic transition has been found below Tt=26 K. In this state, a metamagnetic transition takes place in the first magnetizing process; a ferromagnetic state having a remanent magnetization MR is stabilized after removing the external magnetic field. MR does not show noticeable relaxation behavior and a rectangular-type hysteresis loop is maintained in the following magnetization process. As origin of the irreversibility, a martensitic structural phase transition under the external field can be considered. The magnetic-field cooling effect on the magnetic susceptibility indicates the coexistence of a kind of spin-glass state with long-range antiferromagnetic ordering.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Physics and Astronomy Condensed Matter Physics
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