Influence of Substitution and Milling on Structural and Magnetic Properties of Selected Sm(Ni1-xCox)3 Compounds.

The influence of substitution of Co for Ni in Sm(Ni_1-xCo_x)₃, where x = 0:0, 0,1, 0.2, on the structural and magnetic properties has been investigated. Samples with x = 0:0 and 0.2 were subjected to grinding in a high energy ball mill. The presence of a PuNi3 type of crystal phase was evidenced for bulk crystalline and powders specimens. With an increase in the cobalt content, an increase at T_c was observed. From the magnetic isotherms, the magnetic entropy changes were determined both for solid and powdered samples. It has been shown that the value of the magnetic entropy change at T_c is doubled for the bulk sample with x = 0.2 but it has decreased significantly for all powdered samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]