Magnetic Properties of Fe2P Single Crystal

The magnetic properties of hexagonal Fe 2 P single crystal are studied by the measurements of magnetization, susceptibility, thermal expansion and electrical resistivity along the principal crystallographic axes. It is found that the saturation magnetization per molecule and the Curie temperature are 2.94 µ B and 208.6 K, respectively, and the anisotropy constant K 1 is 2.32×10 7 erg/cm 3 at 4.2 K, which is considerably larger than the values in 3d-transition compounds. The thermal expansion and the electrical resistivity show discontinuous changes at the Curie temperature indicating that the ferromagnetic to paramagnetic transition of Fe 2 P is accompanied by the first-order transition due to magnetoelastic effects. The exchange striction obtained from the measurement of thermal expansion is discussed on the basis of the theory of Bean and Rodbell.