Temperature and field-induced spin reorientations in NdFe10−xCoxMo2 single crystals

Single crystals of the NdFe10−xCoxMo2 alloy system (x=0,1,3,5,7,10) have been prepared by the Czochralski technique and studied by x-ray and magnetometry techniques. All of the compounds in this series crystallize in the tetragonal ThMn12-type structure. The single-crystal data support the previous findings on polycrystalline samples, namely, that (1) with increasing Co content, the easy direction of magnetization at 300 K appears to deviate from the c axis for x≤3, and becomes axial for x≥5; (2) temperature-induced spin reorientations are observed for x<3; and (3) for x≥5, no temperature-induced but field-induced spin reorientations are observed. Single-crystal data also clarify the anomalies observed in the temperature-dependent magnetization data on polycrystalline samples.