Electronic structure and magnetic properties of Y-Ni intermetallic compounds

The local density of states at Ni and Y sites and the total density of states are calculated for the intermetallic compounds Y 2 Ni 17 , YNi 5 , Y 2 Ni 7 and YNi 3 in the recursion method. It is shown that the occurrence of ferromagnetism in Y 2 Ni 17 , Y 2 Ni 7 and YNi 3 is due to a peak in the density of states near the Fermi level. The temperature dependence of the spin paramagnetic susceptibility is calculated and the results are compared with the observed ones. The metamagnetism in Y 2 Ni 16 and some local magnetic properties on Ni and Y atoms are discussed.