Critical Behavior In Hexagonal Y2fe17: Magnetic Interaction Crossover From 3d To 2d Ising Model

The critical behavior of single phase Y2Fe17 melt-spun ribbons with the Th2Fe17-type crystal structure has been studied around the transition temperature (T-C). This alloy undergoes a second-order ferromagnetic (FM)-paramagnetic (PM) phase transition at T-C = 301 K. Various techniques, such as the modified Arrott plot, Kouvel-Fisher method, and critical isotherm analysis, were used to determine the critical exponents that were found to be beta = 0.226(3), gamma = 1.296(2), and delta = 6.804(5). The universality class of the critical phenomenon in the Y2Fe17 ribbons can be explained with the help of the renormalization group theory approach, in which the magnetic properties show a feature changing from three (3D)- to two-dimensional (2D) Ising model. The first-principles calculations based on density functional theory qualitatively explain the experimental results, confirming the strong correlation between lattice atoms and critical behavior in magnetic intermetallic Y2Fe17.