STRUCTURAL AND MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES OF THE NOVEL ND3FE29-XTIX COMPOUND FROM POWDER NEUTRON-DIFFRACTION

The structure and stoichiometry of' a new rare-earth iron-base intermetallic compound Nd3Fe29-xTix, has been determined using powder neutron diffraction on a sample with x = 1.24. The structure consists of fifteen unique transition metal sites and two rare-earth sites, in a monoclinic cell of symmetry p21/c. The magnetic moments are aligned along the a-axis and the Ti occupies sites with low rare-earth coordination. The structure shows a distinct stacking along the b-direction, consisting of rare-earth-Fe(Ti) layers and layers containing only Fe(Ti).