Analysis of the intrinsic magnetic properties of R2Fe17 single crystals (R=Y, Dy, Ho, Er)

The magnetic behavior of some R2Fe17 single crystals have been analyzed quantitatively in a wide temperature range, using a two-sublattice approximation for the magnetic structure and taking into account isotropic exchange and single-ion crystal-field interactions. The 3d sublattice behavior has been described phenomenologically, from the study of the experimental magnetization results in a Y2Fe17 single crystal. The parameters A(2)(0), A(4)(0), A(6)(0), A(6)(6), describing the crystal-field interaction in the different R2Fe17 compounds (R=Er, Dy, Ho) have been determined. The calculated magnetic behavior shows good agreement with experimental magnetization results in the temperature range 4.2 to 300 K, demonstrating the reliability of the determined parameters.