Thermal expansion and magnetostriction in rare-earth equiatomic compounds with Cu, Ag, Zn

By X-Ray measurements, the thermal expansion of rare-earth compounds with Cu, Ag, and Zn have been determined. The ferromagnetic compounds TbZn and DyZn exhibit a large quadratic distorsion in the ordered range of opposite sign than in the antiferromagnetic compounds TbAg and TbCu. The absence of a distorsion in DyCu and DyAg confirms a non-colinear magnetic structure. An interpretation is given of distorsion in terms of crystalline field and variation of the interactions with distance.