Intriguing behavior of UCo1−xRhxGe ferromagnets in magnetic field along the b axis

Single crystals of solid solutions of ferromagnetic superconductors UCoGe and URhGe were investigated by magnetization and specific-heat measurements. These compounds behave as anisotropic ferromagnets with the easy-magnetization direction along the orthorhombic $c$ axis. The maximum Curie temperature ${T}_C=\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}20\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$ has been observed in $\mathrm{UC}{\mathrm{o}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}\mathrm{R}{\mathrm{h}}_x\mathrm{Ge}$ for $x=0.4$. The main interest of the study was the intriguing behavior in magnetic fields applied along the $b$ axis. The temperature dependence of the $b$-axis magnetic susceptibility exhibits a maximum at a characteristic temperature ${T}_{\mathrm{max}}$. For low Rh concentrations $(x<0.4){T}_{\mathrm{max}}>{T}_C$ and the magnetic entropy ${S}_{\mathrm{mag}}$ at ${T}_C$ is very low, whereas ${T}_{\mathrm{max}}={T}_C$ and the ${S}_{\mathrm{mag}}$ at ${T}_C$ is much higher for $x\ensuremath{\ge}0.4$. A metamagneticlike anomaly in magnetization is observed in all compounds, at a critical field which appears on a similar energy scale with the value of the corresponding ${T}_{\mathrm{max}}$. The character of three paramagnetic regimes which can be distinguished in the T-$x$ and H-$x$ phase diagrams, normal, correlated, and field polarized, is discussed in relation to the field-induced reentrant superconductivity in the parent compounds.