SPIN-REORIENTATION TRANSITIONS AND CRYSTALLINE-ELECTRIC-FIELD PARAMETERS IN RFE10T2 (R = RARE-EARTH, T = SI OR V) INTERMETALLIC COMPOUNDS

The spin-reorientation transition temperatures T(SR) in some R Fe10T2 intermetallic compounds (T = Si or V) have been determined from an analysis of the temperature dependence of the Mossbauer spectra and thermomagnetic measurements. These results were used for estimating the crystalline-electric-field coefficients A(nm). The preferential-site-occupation probabilities for a Si atom to occupy one of the available special positions 8i, 8j, and 8f in the RFe10Si2 lattice have also been determined from the analysis of the Mossbauer spectra. A comparison of the A(n0) obtained for the RFe(12-x)T(x) compounds, with T = Ti, V, or Si, as a function of the preferential site occupation of the T atoms and of the T-atom concentration x reveals a decrease in A(n0) with increasing T-atom occupation of the 8i site.