X-Ray Diffraction Study on the Pseudobinary Compound Ce(Fe_0.9Co_0.1)₂ in High Magnetic Fields

Abstract

We have studied the magnetic and structural properties of Ce(Fe_0.9Co_0.1)₂ with the C15 cubic Laves-phase structure by low-temperature x-ray diffraction measurements in magnetic fields up to 5 T, and in the temperature range from 9 to 300 K. The C15 structure is distorted to rhombohedral symmetry at 90 K in zero magnetic field, accompanied with the magnetic phase transition from the ferromagnetic (FM) to the antiferromagnetic (AFM) states with decreasing temperature. In the AFM state, it is observed clearly that the rhombohedral distortion state recovers the C15 structure by applying magnetic field, accompanied with the metamagnetic transition from the AFM to the forced FM states with a hysteresis in the magnetization process.