Ferrimagnetism of Dy(Mn1-xCox)6Sn6

The magnetic properties of Dy(Mn1-xCox)Sn6 were studied by field-cooled and zero-field-cooled magnetization measurements in the temperature range 5K < or = T < or = 600K in low external fields and by magnetic field-dependent magnetization measurements in fields up to 50 kOe. The temperature variation of the ferrimagnetic spin configuration of the compound with x = 0, determined from earlier neutron diffraction experiments, was taken as the basis for the interpretation of the present data. We find that the overall magnetization at all temperatures and the ferrimagnetic Curie temperatures decrease with increasing Co content. Furthermore, the addition of Co leads to an initial increase in the coercivity at low temperatures up to x = 0.11, after which it decreases.