Anisotropic rare-earth spin-glasses

Abstract

We present magnetic measurements (ac and de susceptibilities and magnetization) on YEr and YGd single crystals. The longitudinal (i.e., along the c axis) susceptibility of YEr shows a typical spin-glass-like cusp, whereas no cusp is observed in the transverse directions. This suggests that only the longitudinal spin components are frozen, in agreement with the theoretical predictions of Cragg and Sherrington for a spin-glass with a large uniaxial crystal field. The YEr system appears to represent an almost perfect Ising type of spin-glass. Surprisingly the YGd system is also definitely anisotropic. A spin-glass-like cusp is observed only for the transverse susceptibility. This anisotropy cannot be ascribed to the crystal field and we discuss its possible origins. Finally, we present some data on the remanence properties of the YEr and YGd alloys.