STRUCTURAL AND MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF Sm (Ti, Fe) 12 INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS

The rare earth-iron intermetallic compounds of SmTiFe x with x ranges from 8 to 11, was synthesized by are-melting technic. We found that they crystallize in the ThMn 12 -type tetragonal structure, 14/mmm. We report here the crystallographic and magnetic properties of Sm(Ti, Fe) 12 and Gd (Ti, Fe) 12 . Unusual uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy was observed in Sm(Ti, Fe) 12 compounds. For Sm(Ti, Fe) 12 , the c-axis is the easy magnetization direction, and Curie temperature is 610 K. The magnetizrystalline anisotropy of Sm and Fe sublattices in Sm(Ti, Fe) 12 compounds was analyzed by measuring magnetization curves of Gd(Ti, Fe) 12 . On the basis of our data, we conclude that both Sm and Fe sublattices have easy axis. After the discovery of Nd 2 Fe 14 B magnets, Sm(Ti, Fe) 12 is another ternary rare earth-iron intermetallic compounds with strong uniaxial anisotropy.