The forced magnetostriction of polycrystalline samples of Er1
xGdxMn6Sn6 (0rxr1) intermetallics with hexagonal HfFe6Ge6-type structure is investigated in the temperature range of 77–480 K. Gd substitution has a significant effect on interatomic distances and especially on inter-sublattice R–Mn couplings. The replacement of Er by Gd results in increasing the ordering temperature followed by reinforcement of the R–Mn coupling, as well as decreasing the magnetostriction values owing to the S-state character of Gd3þ ions. The results show that the contribution of Er sublattice to anisotropic magnetoelastic effects is positive, while that of Gd and Mn is negative. All the examined samples exhibit considerable magnetovolume anomalies at the ordering temperature (TC¼338, 381, 412 and 434 K for the samples with x¼0, 0.2, 0.6 and 1.0, respectively). While the unsubstituted sample exhibits metamagnetic transitions, Gd-contained compounds do not show this behavior, owing to the strong Gd–Mn coupling. The experimental results obtained are discussed in the framework of the two-magnetic sublattice by bearing in mind the lattice parameter dependence of the interlayer Mn–Mn exchange interaction in these layered compounds. From the temperature dependence of magnetostriction values and considering the magnetostriction equation for a hexagonal structure, we attempt to determine the signs of some of the magnetostriction constants for these compounds and the influence of Gd substitution on them.

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