Structural and magnetic properties of DyFe3 hydrides

The ternary hydride phases, DyFe3H/sub x/ with x = 1.7, 2.5, and 4.2 all retain the PuNi3 rhombohedral structure of DyFe3 with a maximum volume expansion of 18% for DyFe3H/sub 4.2/. All phases show a preferential expansion parallel to the c0 axis. From bulk magnetization measurements, the Dy-Fe spin compensation temperature is found to decrease linearly from 5450K for DyFe3 to 1500K for DyFe3H/sub 4.2/ with increasing volume of the hydride phases. The 161Dy Moessbauer results for the two Dy sites in the structure indicate a slight reduction occurs in free-ion moment found for DyFe3 in all hydride phases. In addition, the 57Fe Moessbauer data show that the average Fe moment for the five inequivalent Fe sites increases with hydrogen concentration up to x = 2.5