Magnetic Properties of DyAl2 and NdAl2

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Abstract
The magnetic properties of two dialuminides, DyAl2 and NdAl2, have been investigated by neutron diffraction and susceptibility measurements. Both compounds show Curie‐Weiss behavior in the paramagnetic region and are basically ferromagnetic below Curie temperatures of 62°K and 65°K, respectively. At low temperatures, the compound NdAl2 is a pure ferromagnet, whereas DyAl2 is almost completely ferromagnetic, but has the additional property of a weak antiferromagnetic ordering. The susceptibility measurements show an effective moment per molecule of 9.7±0.1 and 3.1±0.05 μB for DyAl2 and NdAl2, respectively. The neutron diffraction data show a rare‐earth‐ordered saturation moment of 9.1±0.4 and 2.5±0.1 μB on the Dy and Nd atom sites, respectively. The Al atom sites exhibit no measureable moment within the limits of experimental detection (0.5 μB). Both compounds show a temperature‐dependent magnetic ordering process which obeys a Brillouin function. The experimental magnetic form factor for both the Dy3+ and Nd3+ ions diminishes more rapidly with increasing (sinθ)/λ than present theory postulates.