Moessbauer spectroscopy and structural studies of the Tb sub 2 Fe sub 17 compound

In this word we report the results of structural and Moessbauer studies on the intermetallic compound Tb sub 2 Fe sub 17. X-ray diffraction measurements reveal the presence of a dominant hexagonal phase with a = 8.5 a and c= 12.4 a, in addition to other minor phases. Moessbauer spectrum at room temperature and at liquid nitrogen temperature indicated the presence of alpha-Fe phase and a paramagnetic component as minor phases, in addition to the major Tb sub 2 Fe sub 17 hexagonal phase. The sub spectrum for the hexagonal phase was fitted with seven magnetic components corresponding to the nonequivalent sites 6c, 9d, 18f and 18h. (author)