Magnetic structure of Gd5Si2Ge2 and Gd5Si2Ge1.9M0.1 (M = Ga, Cu).

Powder x-ray diffraction patterns of the doped compounds Gd(5)Si(2)Ge(1.9)M(0.1) (M = Ga, Cu) show the same crystal structure, orthorhombic Gd(5)Si(4)-type, in the ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases. This is different from Gd(5)Si(2)Ge(2), whose paramagnetic phase is monoclinic. The magnetic structure at low temperature, solved from diffraction experiments with hot neutrons, is the same in all the three compounds, collinear ferromagnetic with moments along the crystal b-axis, or F(y)F(By) according to Bertaut's notation. These results, combined with those of heat capacity and magnetocaloric effect, indicate, similarly to Gd(5)Si(4), a second-order, purely magnetic, transition in the doped compounds explaining the absence of hysteresis.