EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY OF THE MAGNETIC PHASE-DIAGRAMS IN NDZN

The NdZn compound (CsCl-type) orders antiferromagnetically at T-N = 70 K. In the magnetic state, a first-order transition at T-R = 18.1 K separates two different spontaneous magnetic phases. These two phases have been associated with two multiaxial structures on the basis of powder neutron diffraction and crystal-field analysis. Present work confirms these results by means of magnetization and neutron diffraction measurements on single crystals and completes the H-T phase diagrams for magnetic fields applied along the [001], [110] and [111] directions. The complementary analysis of magnetization and neutron diffraction measurements allows us to associate a magnetic structure with each of the phases seen. All these structures are multiaxial and confirm the existence of strong quadrupolar interactions in NdZn.