Complex Magnetism of Lanthanide Intermetallics and the Role of their Valence Electrons:Ab InitioTheory and Experiment

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We explain a profound complexity of magnetic interactions of some technologically relevant gadolinium intermetallics using an ab initio electronic structure theory which includes disordered local moments and strong f-electron correlations. The theory correctly finds GdZn and GdCd to be simple ferromagnets and predicts a remarkably large increase of Curie temperature with a pressure of +1.5 K kbar(-1) for GdCd confirmed by our experimental measurements of +1.6 K kbar(-1). Moreover, we find the origin of a ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic competition in GdMg manifested by noncollinear, canted magnetic order at low temperatures. Replacing 35% of the Mg atoms with Zn removes this transition, in excellent agreement with long-standing experimental data.