Effect of Ni substitution on the magnetic and electrical properties of DyTbFe

Alloys of DyTbFeNi [0≤x≤2] were prepared and the lattice parameters obtained at room temperature showed a deviation from Vegard's law owing to the presence of magnetovolume effect. Magnetization studies were carried out up to an applied field of 10 kOe in the temperature range 4.2-750 K. Magnetization data at 4.2 K indicate the effect of domain wall pinning. Temperature dependence of magnetization curves showed maxima at low temperatures as a consequence of this pinning effect. Electrical resistivity studies were carried out in the temperature range 16-750 K. A minimum observed for x=2 in the vicinity of its Curie temperature is attributed to the presence of critical fluctuations due to short-range spin ordering of the rare earths. All the samples, except x=2, showed a T dependence at low temperatures and this has been attributed to electron-spin wave scattering mechanism. © 1995 American Institute of Physics.