Magnetocrystalline anisotropic property of NdCo2 compound

The magnetic anisotropic behaviour of the compound NdCo2 is investigated in the temperature range of 55 to 125 K. The cubic anisotropy constants K1 and K2 obtained for this compound are very large and the magnitude of K2 is consistently higher than K1. The observed monotonic variation of the anisotropy constants with temperature suggests that, in the temperature range of 55 to 125 K, there is neither a sudden change in the anisotropic behaviour nor a change in the easy direction of magnetisation. Hence the two step magnetisation process observed in this compound can not be attributed to a change in anisotropy. (author)