SUSCEPTIBILITY MAXIMUM AND METAMAGNETISM IN NEARLY FERROMAGNETIC LAVES PHASE INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS

Temperature variation of the magnetic susceptibility and the low temperature magnetization process of M(Co(1-x)Al(x))2, (M = Y, Lu; x greater-than-or-equal-to 0) are investigated in the strongly exchange enhanced paramagnetic region in fields up to 100 T. In all the samples studied, the susceptibility exhibits a pronounced maximum at high temperature whereas a sharp metamagnetic transition is observed in the low temperature magnetization. The results indicate a strong correlation between metamagnetism and the susceptibility maximum in the nearly ferromagnetic metals.