Features of magnetostriction behavior of the intermetallic compound Sm0.2Y0.8Fe2 near the spin reorientation transitions

The structural and magnetic properties of Sm0.2Y0.8Fe2 intermetallic compound are investigated using X-ray diffraction and magnetic measurements and compared with the properties of the SmFe2 compound. It is established that the partial substitution of Y for Sm in SmFe2 leads to the decrease in both the Curie temperature TC and the two spin-reorientation transition temperatures TSR1 and TSR2. The complex behavior of the field and temperature dependencies of the longitudinal, transversal, anisotropic and volume magnetostriction in a wide temperature range (including the spin-reorientation region) is discussed in terms of the single-ion anisotropy and magnetostriction theory. The influence of other factors, such as peculiarities of the state of Sm3+ ions and competition between contributions to magnetostriction from the iron and samarium sublattices, is also considered.