Abstract
The specific heat and magnetic susceptibility have been measured for Er3Co. The magnetic susceptibility obeys the Curie-Weiss law in the temperature range of 100-300 K with the effective moment µ eff=9.52µ B. A large magnetic specific heat above the Curie temperature of 13 K was found, which is interpreted in terms of the point-charge model. It is revealed that the crystal field and exchange field are of the same order of magnitude and that the electronic thermal excitations contribute to the magnetic specific heat, resulting in a broad Schottky-type contribution. Moreover, magnetocrystalline anisotropy gives rise to the noncollinear spin structure.