Abstract
Magnetic and crystallographic measurements have been made on the rare-earth iron boride systems (R 1-x Sc x ) 2 Fe 14 B (R=Y, Nd, Dy, Er, Lu). Powder x-ray diffraction data indicate that a Nd 2 Fe 14 B-type single phase persists up to x=0.2 with lattice parameters decreasing slightly due to the smaller metallic radius of the Sc 3+ ions. The variation of magnetic moments per formula unit with nonmagnetic Sc substitution depends on the smaller Sc size and the nature of the magnetic alignment of the rare-earth sublattice (nonmagnetic in Y and Lu, ferromagnetic axial in Nd, ferromagnetic planar in Er, and antiferromagnetic axial in Dy) with respect to the iron sublattice. The Curie temperature T C decreases monotonically with progressive addition of Sc atoms.