Structure Refinement and Magnetic Properties of Al2Fe3Nd Compound

A new ternary compound, Al2Fe3Nd, was prepared via arc melting using a non-consumable tungsten electrode under an argon atmosphere with subsequent annealing at 923 K for 30 days. Its crystal structure was determined using the Rietveld refinement of powder X-ray diffraction data. The results show that Al2Fe3Nd has a hexagonal structure in a space group of P6/mmm (No. 191). It is isostructural with the Al2.5Ni2.5Y compound. It has lattice parameters of a = 8.8625(3) A and c = 4.1475(2) A with a calculated density D-calc = 6.460 g/cm(3). The residual factors converge to R-p = 0.0946 and R-wp = 0.1214. In the temperature range of 2-500 K, magnetic susceptibility has been measured. The magnetic susceptibility of Al2Fe3Nd follows the Curie-Weiss law in the temperature range of 410-500 K. The effective magnetic moment mu(eff) and paramagnetic Curie temperature theta(P) were estimated to be 8.59 mu(B) and 399.8 K, respectively. The saturation magnetic moment and magnetic hysteresis loop for the compound were measured under room- and low-temperature conditions. The measurements indicate that the saturation magnetization moment declines with increasing temperature, and the compound is ferrimagnetic in the analytical temperature range of 2-300 K.