Magnetostriction of Tb<inf>x</inf>Ho<inf>0.75-x</inf>Pr<inf>0.25</inf>(Fe<inf>0.9</inf>B<inf>0.1</inf>)<inf>2</inf> (x=0-0.3) compounds

The TbxHo0.75-xPr0.25(Fe0.9B0.1)2 (x=0, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, and 0.3) compounds are found to stabilize in a cubic Laves phase structure. The lattice parameter, magnetostriction (at 10 kOe), and Curie temperature are found to increase with increasing Tb content. The compound with x=0.15 exhibits a possible anisotropy compensation between the Tb and (Ho/Pr) sublattices. The easy magnetization direction rotates towards the 〈1 1 1〉 from the 〈1 0 0〉 direction, with increasing Tb content. The splitting of the (4 4 0) peak accompanied by the spontaneous magnetostriction-induced rhombohedral distortion is observed for compounds with x≥0.15 and the spontaneous magnetostriction (λ1 1 1) is found to increase with Tb content. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.