First order Field Induced Magnetization Processes and Magnetostriction in Tb2Co12Fe5

We report the results of magnetization and magnetostriction measurements performed by pulsed-magnetic-field techniques on the intermetallic compound Tb2Co12Fe5. The temperature dependence of the critical field at which the firstorder magnetization process takes place was measured by a singular point detection technique on aligned powders. Magnetostriction measurements were performed by a strain-gauge-based technique at different temperatures. The obtained results are compared with observations recently made for the closely related compound Pr2Co12Fe5, allowing to clarify the crucial role of both the rare-earth and the transition-metal sublattices in the peculiar behaviour of the latter.