Magnetic properties of the solid solution NdGa_1-xGe_x

A solid solution was found between the binary phases NdGa and Nace at 600 degrees C. X-ray powder diffraction patterns were indexed on the basis of a C-centered ortho rhombic cell. No deviations from the structure type alpha-IT1 were encountered for the pseudobinary samples. The magnetic results showed that all samples ale ferromagnets. Both the ordering temperature as well as theta(p) revealed a maximum at x = 0.2. Applying the RKKY-theory to the NdGa1-xGex system infers that the magnetic properties strongly depend on the Fermi wave vector and hence on the concentration of the conduction electrons