Competing anisotropies and magnetization processes in the pseudoternary (HoxEr1-x)Fe10V2 tetragonal system

A study of temperature and composition dependence of the magnetic anisotropy in the tetragonal (HoxEr1−x)Fe10V2 polycrystalline compounds was made by means of the singular point detection technique. At 293 K the easy magnetization direction lies along the tetragonal c axis [001] in all the samples and the anisotropy field increases linearly with increasing Ho content. However, with decreasing temperature the competition among the anisotropy of the different magnetic sublattices gives rise to a spin reorientation transition axis to cone in Er containing samples. The TSR value increases with increasing Er content. A significant in-plane anisotropy was found in all the compounds. This planar anisotropy is larger in HoFe10V2, where it favors the [100] direction of the basal plane, while in ErFe10V2 the [110] is the preferred direction. The difference between the anisotropy field along [100] and [110] directions was found to decrease with increasing Er content. A first-order magnetization process of type 1 was observed below 120 K in all the compounds when the magnetic field is applied along the [100] direction.