Magnetic properties of Cu substituted NdMn 2 Si 2 intermetallics

The structure and magnetic properties of NdMn 2– x Cu x Si 2 (0.2 ≤ x ≤ 1) were studied by X‐ray powder diffraction and magnetization measurements. In this study, we investigate the variations in the magnetic properties of NdMn 2– x Cu x Si 2 as a function of Cu concentration by examing the evolution of the features in the temperature dependence of the magnetization. Earlier neutron diffraction experiments showed that the ferromagnetic Mn planes are ordered antiparallel along the c ‐axis below 380 K and the Nd sublattice orders at 33 K in NdMn 2 Si 2 . The ordering of the Nd sublattice reconfigures the ordering in Mn sublattice and leads to ferromagnetic ordering. With increasing amount of Cu, the Curie temperature has a maximum value of 120 K at x = 0.7 and decreases for the samples with x ≥ 0.8. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)