Transport properties of Y_1-xNd_xCo₂ compounds

Electrical resistivity ρ and thermopower S of light rare earth-based pseudo-binary Y_1-xNd_xCo₂ alloys have been measured at temperatures from 2 K to 300 K and under pressures up to 3.5 GPa. The Curie temperature of the alloys, T_C, determined from characteristic features in the temperature dependences of the transport properties, decreases with decreasing Nd concentration x and vanishes around x_C = 0.3. The residual resistivity has a pronounced maximum at x = x_C. The temperature coefficient of thermopower dS/dT at low temperature limit shows a complex dependence on alloy composition: it changes its sign from negative to positive at x ≈ 0.2, having a maximum at x = x _C, and is nearly composition independent at x > 0.5. The pressure dependences of T_C and ρ0 of Yo.₆Ndo. ₄Co₂ reveal the behavior similar to that observed in the Y_1-xR_x^HCo₂ (R^H = heavy rare earth) alloy systems, which implies that the magnetic state of the Co-3d electron subsystem is responsible for the transport properties in the Y _1-xNd_xCo₂ alloys.