Magnetic structure of Ho2CoGa8 determined by X-ray resonant magnetic scattering

We report the low temperature magnetic structure of the Ho2CoGa8 intermetallic compound studied by X-ray magnetic scattering technique at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory. We found that below T-N = 5.1 K Ho2CoGa8 has a commensurate antiferromagnetic structure with a propagation vector (eta) over bar = (1/2, 1/2, 1/2) and preliminary analysis indicated that the Ho magnetic moment points along the c-axis. The magnetic structure of this compound was obtained by measuring the strong dipolar resonant peak at the L-3 edge using polarization analysis. The magnetic structure and properties Ho2CoGa8 are found to be consistent with the general trend already seen for the Nd-, Tb-, and the Ce-based compounds from the RmMnIn3m+2n family (R = rare earth; M = Co, Rh, or Ir; m = 1,2: n = 0, 1). (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.