Thermal Expansion Anomaly of Tb2Fe14Cr3 Compound

We investigate the thermal expansion property of the Tb2Fe14Cr3 compound by means of x-ray diffraction. The result shows that the Tb2Fe14Cr3 compound has a hexagonal Th2Ni17-type structure. Negative thermalexpansion is found in the Tb2Fe14Cr3 compound from 296 to 493K by x-ray dilatometry. The coefficient of the average thermal expansion is α=-2.82 × 10-5K-1. In the temperature range 493--692K, the coefficient of the average thermal expansion is α=1.59 × 10-5K-1. The physical mechanism of thermal expansion anomaly of the Tb2Fe14Cr3 compound is discussed according to the temperature dependence of magnetization measured by a superconducting quantum interference device.