MAGNETIC AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ND5FE17

A new stable compound in the Nd-Fe system has been identified as Nd5Fe17. The crystal structure belongs to the hexagonal space group P6(3)/mcm, with a = 2.0214(8) nm and c = 1.2329 (8) nm, and with 12 formula units per cell. This compound is a ferromagnet with T(c) = 503 K and magnetization 162 emu/g at 4.2 K. Mossbauer spectra have been measured and fitted with five Fe sites, yielding an average B(eff) = 26.5 T at room temperature, from which an average Fe moment of 1.83 Bohr magnetons is deduced. X-ray powder diagrams from magnetically aligned samples suggest basal anisotropy.