Neutron Diffraction Study of Unusual Magnetic Behaviors in the HoFeAl Intermetallic Compound.

Knowledge of structure-property relationships is fundamental but significant in the exploitation of magnetic materials. Here we report that the high Al substitution for Fe transformed the crystal structure from a hexagonal HoFe compound to a rhombohedral HoFeAl compound. Intriguingly, the latter shows unusual evolution of magnetization around 86 and 220 K compared with the former. Integrated investigations of the detailed structure analysis and magnetic performance on the HoFeAl compound demonstrate that the HoFeAl compound possesses a stable rhombohedral structure (3̅) from 5 to 430 K with preferred occupation of Al atoms and ferrimagnetic structure in which the magnetic moments of Ho and Fe lie antiparallel in the basal plane below the Curie temperature. The results of the temperature dependence of moments reveal that the disparate rates of change of the moments for Ho and Fe sublattices give rise to unusual evolution of magnetization around 86 and 220 K and then turn to paramagnetic above 280 K. This work provides clear structure and magnetization information on the HoFeAl compound, which may be beneficial to guiding the future development of magnetic materials.