Intermetallic YCo2 compound is a Pauli exchange-enhanced paramagnet. Structural and magnetic properties of rapidly quenched YCo2 and YCo2 alloyed with Nb or Ti are presented. Samples produced by melt spinning have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM). The samples crystallize in MgCu2-type phase with lattice constant a changing from 7.223 A for YCo2, through 7.213 A for Y0.9Nb0.1Co2 to 7.192 A for Y0.9Ti0.1Co2, where Y atoms are replaced by Nb or Ti atoms. Nanocrystalline phases can be produced by appropriate cooling rates for the solidification process. By the synthesis process free volumes, vacancies, and alloyed atoms are introduced into the YCo2 intermetallic. Ab-initio calculations have been performed to investigate the effects of substitution on the spin-split electronic band structure in the ordered YCo2. A ferrimagnetic ground state is found in the alloyed systems with substitution on the Y-site which is energetically favorable compared to point defects on Co-sites. However, the experimentally found increased magnetic ordering in alloyed YCo2 appears to be based on microstructure effects.
@article{arxiv.2503.15913,
title = {Induced magnetic ordering in alloyed compounds based on Pauli paramagnet YCo$_2$},
author = {Z. Śniadecki and M. Werwiński and A. Szajek and U. K. Rößler and B. Idzikowski},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.15913},
year = {2025}
}