Hyperfine fields in the absence of magnitude order in Dy‐Sc alloys

TbxSc1−x and CdxSc1−x alloys have been shown to exhibit no long‐range magnetic order for x<.25 (in Tb‐Sc) from neutron scattering and magnetization experiments in contrast to Y based alloys and conventional theory which predicts a vanishing of TN only as x→0. We have investigated the Dy hyperfine fields in a series of DyxSc1−x alloys in a similar range in which no TN is found (above 4K). Although no long‐range order is present, the alloys do show a well‐defined hyperfine splitting corresponding to a field approximately equal to that in pure Dy metal and independent of Dy concentration. This is present even in a 2% Dy alloy which is the lowest concentration measured. This surprising result suggests a spin‐relaxation mechanism is operative which produces the observed hyperfine fields, but which is not accompanied by static long‐range magnetic order.