Magnetic properties of Sm2Co17-xCrx (0 ≤ x ≤ 3.0) compounds

Previous research has shown that the substitution of various elements offers the possibility of different preferred site occupations in the crystal structure, which can have a pronounced influence on the magnetic anisotropy of the compounds. The structural and magnetic properties of Sm2Co17-xCrx (0 # < x # < 3.0) compounds have been investigated by means of X-ray diffraction and magnetization measurements. The powder X-ray diffraction patterns show that all samples crystallize as a single phase with the rhombohedral Th2Zn17-type structure. The lattice parameters a and V increase monotonically with increasing Cr content, but the lattice parameter c increases very slowly with increasing Cr content. The X-ray diffraction patterns of the aligned powder of the samples have confirmed that all the compounds investigated have uniaxial anisotropy. The Curie temperature of the compounds decreases rapidly the spontaneous magnetization M0, the anisotropy field Ba, and the anisotropy constant K1 of Sm2Co17-xCrx (0 # < x # < 3.0) compounds decrease strongly with increasing Cr content.