Magnetostriction In High-Pressure Synthesized Prxnd1-Xfe1.9 (0 <= X <= 1) Alloys

Polycrystalline PrxNd1-xFe1.9 (0 <= x <= 1) magnetostrictive alloys were synthesized by high-pressure annealing. The crystal structure, Curie temperature, easy magnetic direction, and magnetostriction of the alloys were investigated. Due to the effects of high pressure, PrxNd1-xFe1.9 alloys are stabilized in a C15 cubic Laves phase with MgCu2-type structure. The Curie temperature decreases linearly with the increasing concentration of Pr. The easy magnetic direction at room-temperature of the alloys rotates continuously from < 100 > for x = 0 to < 111 > for x = 1. The magnetostriction of Pr0.5Nd0.5Fe1.9 shows a peak at low magnetic field, which indicates the possible anisotropy compensation between Pr and Nd sublattices. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3540692]