Influence of doping elements (Y and Fe) on crystal structure and electrical resistivity of the RNi sub(2) (R = Gd, Er) compounds

The ternary R sub(0.85)Y sub(0.15)Ni sub(2) and RNi sub(1.85)Fe sub(0.15) (R = Gd and Er) phases have been investigated to study the influence of doping elements (Y, Fe) on the crystal structure and electric properties of RNi sub(2) (R = Gd, Er) based compounds. All substituted alloys show metallic-like conductivity and exhibit anomalies, corresponding to the ferromagnetic phase transition temperatures. Both the Curie temperatures and the scattering contribution from magnetic moments in the paramagnetic state for the binary RNi sub(2) scale well with the deGennes factor; on the contrary, the Fe-substituted systems strongly deviate.