Rare-earth-based permanent-magnet materials rich in iron have relatively low
ferromagnetic ordering temperatures. This is believed to be due to the presence
of antiferromagnetic exchange interactions, besides the ferromagnetic
interactions responsible for the magnetic order. The magnetic properties of
Ce2Fe17 are anomalous. Instead of ferromagnetic, it is antiferromagnetic, and
instead of one ordering temperature, it shows two, at the Neel temperature TN ~
208 K and at TT ~ 124 K. Ce2Fe17, doped by 0.5% Ta, also shows two ordering
temperatures, one to an antiferromagnetic phase, at TN ~ 214 K, and one to a
ferromagnetic phase, at T0 ~ 75 K. In order to clarify this behavior,
single-crystalline samples were prepared by solution growth, and characterized
by electron microscopy, single crystal x-ray diffraction, temperature-dependent
specific heat, and magnetic field and temperature-dependent electrical
resistivity and magnetization. From these measurements, magnetic H-T phase
diagrams were determined for both Ta-doped Ce2Fe17 and undoped Ce2Fe17. These
phase diagrams can be very well described in terms of a theory that gives
magnetic phase diagrams of systems with competing antiferro- and
ferromagnetism.
