Chapter 14 Magnetic properties of intermetallic compounds of rare earth metals

This chapter discusses the magnetic properties of intermetallic compounds involving rare earth metals. Three different concepts are discussed—namely, magnetism, intermetallic compounds, and rare earth metals. The chapter describes the basic concepts and the central ideas that are connected with the magnetic properties of RnBm intermetallic compounds of rare earth metals R with other metals B. The chapter is concerned with intermetallic compounds where the second component has a moment that is distinctly non-zero. Typical compounds are for instance iron or cobalt compounds. It is concerned with boundary cases that do not fit into the two preceding sections. A typical boundary case will be for instance a system based on YCo2, in which a 3D moment appears when a third component is substituted. It also covers some striking phenomena that can be summarized by the term "time dependence." Some specific hard magnetic materials that are of great technical significance are discussed. The leading compound is SmCo5 and a general discussion of the significance of this compound with respect to technical applications is presented in the chapter.