Structure and magnetic properties of the pseudobinary solid solution TbGa_1-xGe_x (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4)

Polycrystalline samples of TbGa_1-xGe_x (x ≤ 0.4) have been prepared by arc-melting. X-ray powder diffraction reveals that all the samples crystallize in a single phase of CrB-type structure and space group Cmcm. The lattice constants of the compounds decrease linearly with the increasing Ge content. The compounds form a solid solution in the Ge content range of 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4. The asymptotic Curie points and the effective paramagnetic moments of the compounds have been determined by thermomagnetic measurements. The ordering temperatures were derived from ac susceptibility data. The XRD patterns at various temperatures reveal that there is no structure phase transition in the samples with x = 0.2 and 0.3 in the temperature range of 113-273 K.