Magnetic and Magnetoelastic Studies of Single Crystal Tb/sub 0.6/Dy/sub 0.4/Zn At Low Temperatures

The alloy series Tb/sub 1-x/Dy/sub x/Zn, x/spl les/0.6, has been shown to undergo easy-axis reorientations at low temperatures. In this paper results of magnetization on single crystal disks of Tb/sub 0.6/Dy/sub 0.4/Zn are reported, Maxima in the magnetization as much as 15/spl deg/ from the axes were found below T/sub R//spl cong/20 K. Magnetostrictions of 5/spl times/10/sup -3/ were measured at 77 K on single crystal rods. Magnetization versus field curves under a series of compressive stresses have verified the highly magnetoelastic nature of this alloy. The non-principal magnetization orientations are discussed on a phenomenological model which includes an eighth-order anisotropy term.