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Magnetic properties of CeNi4Mn single crystal

Monika Klimczak 1Ewa Talik 1Andrzej Kowalczyk 2Tomasz Toliński 2

1. University of Silesia, August Chełkowski Institute of Physics, Department of Solid State Physics, Uniwersytecka 4, Katowice 40-007, Poland
2. Institute of Molecular Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Smoluchowskiego 17, Poznań 60-179, Poland

Abstract

The development of one of the branches of modern electronics i.e. the spintronics is based on the spin polarization effects. It has been recently found that CeNi4Mn exhibits exceptional and promising properties [1-3]. It is a soft ferromagnet with the coercive field below 5 Oe at 5 K. The saturation field is about 1.5 kOe. Simultaneously, the Andreev reflection measurements have shown that this compound can reach a spin polarization of the order of 66% [3]. The Curie temperature of CeNi4Mn is equal to 140 K and, as was recently observed, by neutron diffraction - the magnetic ordering is of the ferromagnetic type with the magnetic moment of 4.6mB at 17 K [1, 2]. The saturation magnetic moment at 2 K is 4.6mB/f.u, which is nearly equal to 5mB for the spin moment of the Mn2+ ion. This implies that both Ce and Ni do not carry any significant magnetic moment [1, 2].

CeNi4Mn belongs to a widely studied series of compounds of the composition RNi4X, where X = B, Al, Cu, Ga, Si and Mn. It appeared that the substitution by various X leads to modification of the crystallographic structure. The parent compound CeNi5 crystallizes in the hexagonal CaCu5-type of structure, space group P6/mmm with Ce occupying the 1a site (0,0,0), Ni(1) in the 2c site (1/3,2/3,0) and Ni(2) in the 3g sites (1/2,0,1/2). This same structure is realized for X = Al, Cu, Ga and Si with X and Ni(2) atoms statistically distributed over the 3g site [4]. For X = Mn the hexagonal structure observed for all the previous substitutions switches to a cubic MgCu4Sn-type of structure, which is a variant of the cubic AuBe5 structure [1, 5].

The aim of this work was obtaining of the CeNi4Mn single crystal and examination of its structural, magnetic, transport and electronic structure properties. The single crystal was obtained by the Czochralski method. CeNi4Mn has grown in the hexagonal CaCu5-type of crystal structure. From the ac magnetic susceptibility a transition to the ferromagnetic state has been found at about 140 K.

[1] Indu Dhiman, A. Das, S.K. Dhar, P. Raychaudhuri, Surjeet Singh, P. Manfrinetti, Solid State Comm. 141 (2007) 160–163

[2] E.N. Voloshina, Y.S. Dedkov, M. Richter, P. Zahn, Phys. Rev. B 73 (2006) 144412.

[3] S. Singh, G. Sheet, P. Raychaudhuri, S.K. Dhar, Appl. Phys. Lett. 88 (2006) 022506.

[4] Y.B. Kuz'ma and N.S. Bilonizhenko, Kristallografiya 18 (1973) 710.

[5] Ya.M. Kalychak, O.I. Bodak, and E.I. Gladyshevskii, Izv. Akad. Nauk, SSSR, Neorg. Mater. 12 (1976) 961.

 

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Presentation: Poster at Joint Fith International Conference on Solid State Crystals & Eighth Polish Conference on Crystal Growth, by Ewa Talik
See On-line Journal of Joint Fith International Conference on Solid State Crystals & Eighth Polish Conference on Crystal Growth

Submitted: 2007-01-15 11:15
Revised:   2009-06-07 00:44