Magnetic order and structural properties of Tb2Fe2Si2C

Abstract

The structural and magnetic properties of Tb2Fe2Si2C have been investigated by bulk measurements (magnetisation and specific heat), X-ray diffraction, neutron powder diffraction and 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy over the temperature range 3 K–300 K Tb2Fe2Si2C is antiferromagnetic with a Néel temperature TN of 44(2) K. The magnetic structure can be described with a propagation vector k = [0 0 ] with the Tb magnetic moments ordering along the b-axis. We also observed strong magnetoelastic effects in particular along the a- and c-axes associated with the antiferromagnetic transition. The 57Fe Mössbauer spectra show no evidence of magnetic splitting down to 10 K, indicating that the Fe atom is non-magnetic in Tb2Fe2Si2C. © 2015 Elsevier B.V.