The metamagnetic phase of the cubic Laves phase transition-metal compounds

Electronic structures of d electrons under magnetic fields for the transition-metal compounds with the cubic Laves phase structure are calculated in the self-consistent tight-binding approximation. The induced moments as a function of magnetic field are obtained for AB(2) compounds with various numbers of d electrons, n(A) and n(B), on the constituent transition-metal elements A and B. Ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases are obtained on the plane of n(A) and n(B), by performing calculations at more than 50 points on this plane. In a narrow range along the boundary between the two phases a metamagnetic phase is found. The critical fields of the metamagnetic transition are calculated in this range. The calculated results are qualitatively in good agreement with the observed values for Hf(Fe, Co)(2), Y(Fe, Co)(2) and Y(Co, Ni)(2).