A neutron polarization analysis study of moment correlations in (Dy0.4Y0.6)T2(T = Mn, Al)

We present a study of the magnetic moment correlations of two pseudo-binary C15 Laves phase compounds, (Dy0.4Y0.6)Mn2 and (Dy0.4Y0.6)Al2, both of which have spin-glass-like magnetic ground states at low temperature. We use neutron powder diffraction with polarization analysis to isolate the diffuse scattering associated with the correlated spin-glass ground state, and compare and contrast the two systems. Despite there being differences of correlation length scale, we discover that the moment–moment correlations of these two disordered magnets are quite similar over a short range, and hence conjecture that the Mn ions in (Dy0.4Y0.6)Mn2 have little influence on the ground-state magnetic properties