Magnetic Hysteresis of Holmium Metal at 4.2°K

Abstract

Hysteresis loops are presented for a specimen of polycrystalline holmium metal at a temperature 4.2°K. The curves differ significantly from those previously reported, but such differences are not unexpected between two different samples of polycrystalline metal. Most qualitative features of the curves follow simply from single‐crystal magnetization curves if a random distribution of c axes is assumed. The unusual position of the initial magnetization curve outside the hysteresis loops can be explained by a condition of zero‐field stability for both a ferromagnetic and an antiferromagnetic structure.