In order to study the systematics of the Fe-Fe exchange in amorphous rare-earth—Fe alloys, without the complications associated with the magnetic characteristics of the rare-earth elements, amorphous films of Fe alloyed with La, Lu, Y, and Zr have been prepared with a wide range of Fe concentrations. Magnetization and Mössbauer-effect measurements were made. The magnetic properties of the alloys depended critically on the choice of rare earth (or rare-earth-like element). YFe and LuFe alloys were found to have spin-glass characteristics while LaFe and ZrFe alloys were found to be ferromagnetic, but with evidence that exchange fluctuations were nearly as large as the average exchange. Thus the nature of the Fe-Fe exchange interaction depends critically upon the species of the rare earth. The most important parameter in determining the magnetic behavior of these alloys appears to be the size of the rare-earth atom, with large rare-earth atoms resulting in a smaller ratio of exchange fluctuations to exchange. The same dependence of the magnetic properties upon rare-earth size appears to be important in the case of magnetic-rare-earth atoms; however, the effect of rare-earth—Fe exchange also becomes important and these effects are discussed.

• Received 17 February 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.19.1623