Anomalous thermal expansion of Gd2Fe15.5Cr1.5 compound

The structure and magnetic properties of Gd2Fe15.5Cr1.5 compound were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction and magnetization measurements. The Gd2Fe15.5Cr1.5 compound had a rhombohedral Th2Zn17-type structure. The Curie temperature of Gd2Fe15.5Cr1.5 compound was about 570 K. This value was about 60 K higher than that of the mother compound Gd2Fe17. Negative thermal expansion was found in Gd2Fe15.5Cr1.5 compound in a broad temperature range 294-572 K by X-ray dilatometry. The coefficient of the average thermal expansion was =-3.87×10−6 K−1 in 294-512 K, and −1.58×10−5 in 512-572 K. The magnetostriction deformations from 294 to 532 K were calculated by means of the differences between the experimental values of the lattice parameters and corresponding values extrapolated from the paramagnetic range. The result showed that the spontaneous volume magnetostrictive deformation ωS decreased linearly from 4.73×10−3 to 0.11×10−3 with the temperature increasing from 294 to 532 K. The analysis showed that the ωS mainly came from the contribution of the spontaneous linear magnetostrictive λc along the c axis.