Random-anisotropy ferromagnetic state in the Cu5Gd0.54Ca0.42 intermetallic compound.

By applying the alloy design concept that stable intermetallic phases between two immiscible elements can be formed by adding a third element that forms stable compounds with both elements, we have synthesized the first known stable intermetallic compound of Cu, Gd, and Ca, where copper acts as the mediating element between the immiscible Gd and Ca. A compound with the composition Cu84Gd9Ca7 (equivalent to Cu5Gd0.54Ca0.42) was synthesized by the Czochralski technique in the form of a large single crystal of high structural perfection, and the structural model was determined by x-ray diffraction (XRD). The compound crystallizes in the hexagonal system, space group P6/mmm, and the crystal structure is isotypic to the Cu5.44Tb0.78. The unit cell contains inherent disorder due to partial occupation of the Cu3 site and the substitutional disorder at the Gd/Ca mixed site located at the vertices of the hexagonal unit cell, where Gd and Ca randomly substitute each other. The random substitution of magnetic Gd by nonmagnetic Ca atoms makes the magnetic Gd lattice disordered, which leads to interesting magnetic ordering at low temperatures that occurs below TC=24K in zero and low external magnetic fields. By performing a large set of complementary experiments along two perpendicular crystallographic directions (the [001] hexagonal-axis direction and the [100] hexagonal-plane direction), we show that the zero-field collective magnetic state can be described as a random-anisotropy ferromagnetic state, where random magnetic anisotropies originate from the magnetic dipole interactions between the Gd moments in the magnetically disordered lattice. The random-anisotropy ferromagnetic state in the Cu84Gd9Ca7 is characterized by randomness and frustration of magnetic interactions, which are the two ingredients that allow classifying this state into the generic class of spin glasses. Our paper opens the possibility to search for new ternary intermetallic phases in the Cu-Gd-Ca phase diagram, including structurally complex phases and quasicrystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]