Nature of Magnetism in the HfCo2 Laves Phase

Despite the fact that the magnetic properties of the intermetallic compounds with C15- type Laves phase structure have so far been studied intensively, the nature of magnetism in some of them is still a matter of controversy. In order to establish and understand the magnetism in the HfCo2 Laves phase with C15 (MgCu2-type) structure, calculations using FP-LAPW WIEN 97 program package for non-polarized and spin-polarized cases were made. They have shown that the spin-polarized case is more stable, i. e. the energy of its ground state is lower by about 0.15 eV. This is in collision with the measured TDPAC spectra, which show no sign of magnetic interaction, as well as with the earlier reported magnetization and susceptibility measurements, which claim that HfCo2 is Pauli paramagnet. Probable explanation for the obtained contradiction is the deviation of the real structure from the ideal one.