Crystalline electric field effect on magnetic transition temperatures of borocarbides

Abstract

The variation of the antiferromagnetic (AF) transition temperature, T-N, in an isostructural series of rare-earth borocarbide compounds, RNi2B2C, was investigated in terms of the crystalline electric field (CEF) model. In spite of a strong magnetic anisotropy, the values of T-N were observed to apparently follow a de Gennes scaling behavior, and that feature could be qualitatively understood in the CEF scheme.