PRESSURE-DEPENDENCE OF THE MAGNETIZATION OF YFE2 AND ZRFE2 - COMPUTATION AND EXPERIMENT

Values of PARTIAL ln sigma / PARTIAL P, where sigma is the magnetisation per unit mass, for YFe//2 (ZrFe//2) of minus 8. 4 plus or minus 0. 4 ( minus 6. 3 plus or minus 0. 3) multiplied by 10 ** minus **4 kbar** minus **1 were obtained from forced magnetostriction measurements on polycrystalline samples at 4. 2 K in fields of up to 12 T. These values are shown to be in reasonable agreement with ab initio computer calculations of PARTIAL ln sigma / PARTIAL P but contradict earlier experimental work. The agreement between experiment and theory for PARTIAL ln sigma / PARTIAL P provides further evidence that YFe//2 and ZrFe//2 are ferrimagnetic.