Structural and magnetic properties of Y1-xYbxF3 solid solution

Abstract

In this work, the polycrystalline samples Y1-xYbxF3 (x = 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1) were synthesized and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction and magnetic measurements. In the first stage of synthesis, mixed sesquioxides (Y1-xYbx)2O3 were obtained by ceramic technology. In the second stage, obtained mixed sesquioxides were treated with an excess of ammonium hydrogen fluoride in air at 170 °C for 20 h. In the third and last stage, Y1-xYbxF3 samples were obtained by heating the product from the second stage of synthesis at 500 °C for 3 h in an inert atmosphere. The X-ray diffraction revealed that the crystal structure of the Y1-xYbxF3 solid solution is orthorhombic (YF3 structural type). The structure refinements were done by the Rietveld full-profile method within Pnma space group. Magnetic susceptibility measurements of all samples were done in a temperature range 2-300 K by SQUID magnetometer. The relation between magnetic and structural properties was discussed.