Nitrogen Gas Pressure Synthesis and Neutron Diffraction Study of R2Fe17N3 with R: Ce and Nd.

A variant synthesis route has been developed using high pressure nitrogen gas, leading to a lower reaction temperature and time and a higher nitrogen content. Here we report on a structural and magnetic study of Ce2Fe17,N3 and Nd2Fe17N3 synthesized by this method. The compounds have been investigated by means of neutron powder diffraction at 2 and 300 K. The impact of nitrogen insertion on the iron and rare earth magnetic moments is discussed. Finally, enlightening comparisons are made with some iron nitrides (Fe4N and Fe16N2). The refined site-dependent iron magnetic moments appear to vary significantly with the interatomic distances between iron and nitrogen.