A study of the rapid change of the molecular moment in Ho(Co1−c Nic)2

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Abstract
The cobalt‐rich end of the series Ho(Co1−cNic)2 has been studied by spin‐echo NMR of 165Ho and by magnetization measurements. From the NMR data a value of (9.55±0.11) μB is estimated for holmium in HoCo2. Magnetization measurements on the same compound give (7.9±0.1)μB for the molecular moment. An assumption of (0.8±0.2) μB for the average cobalt moment μ̄ leads to (9.5±0.4)μB for holmium in agreement with the value estimated from NMR data. Nickel substitution causes a rapid fall in the hyperfine field while the molecular moment shows a simultaneous increase with increasing nickel content. This is attributed to a bootstrap process involving the exchange field and the magnitude of the cobalt moment. This process appears to be more effective when the value of the cobalt moment is in the vicinity of 0.8μB.