STRUCTURE OF THE RARE EARTH METALS AT LOW TEMPERATURES

摘要

Three members of the rare earth metal series are known to be ferromagnetic at low temperatures. These are gadolinium, dysprosium, and erbium. The Curie point of gadolinium is 289 degrees Kelvin while that of erbium is 56 ± 2 degrees Kelvin. Dysprosium shows a magnetic anomaly at about 180 degrees Kelvin and a ferromagnetic Curie point at 105 degrees Kelvin.nIt was decided to investigate the structure of these metals in the neighborhood of their Curie points by X-ray analysis. This study was undertaken because the onset of the ferromagnetic condition is often accompanied by anomalous behavior of the coefficient of thermal expansion.