https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2004-00006-4
Magnetic order in RCr2Si2 intermetallics
1
INFM, Unità di Modena, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di
Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via G. Campi 213/a, 41100 Modena, Italy
2
FRM-II, Technische Universität München, 85747, Garching,
Germany
3
School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052,
Australia
4
Van der Waals-Zeeman Institute, University of Amsterdam, Valckenierstraat 65, 1018 XE, The Netherlands
5
The Centre for the Physics of Materials and the Physics Department,
McGill University, 3600 University St., Montreal (Quebec), H3A 2T8, Canada
Corresponding author: a moze.oscar@unimore.it
Received:
4
November
2003
Published online:
30
January
2004
The magnetic structure and ordering temperatures of three
intermetallic compounds which crystallize in the tetragonal
ThCr2Si2 structure, TbCr2Si2, HoCr2Si2 and
ErCr2Si2, have been determined by neutron diffraction,
differential scanning calorimetry and magnetization measurements. The
Cr-sublattice orders anti-ferromagnetically with éel
temperatures of 758 K for TbCr2Si2, 718 K for HoCr2Si2
and 692 K for ErCr2Si2. Chromium atoms located at 4d
crystallographic sites are aligned anti-parallel along the c-axis, with
G
Cr magnetic modes. In contrast with metallic bcc Cr, the
refined room temperature value of the ordered Cr moment is anomalously large
for all three compounds. No long range magnetic order of the R
sublattice in TbCr2Si2 and HoCr2Si2 is observed, whilst
the Er sublattice in ErCr2Si2 orders independently of the Cr
sublattice below 2.4 K with moments ferromagnetically aligned in the basal
plane.
PACS: 75.25.+z – Spin arrangements in magnetically ordered materials (including neutron and spin-polarized electron studies, synchrotron-source X-ray scattering, etc.) / 75.30.Cr – Saturation moments and magnetic susceptibilities / 75.50.Ee – Antiferromagnetics
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2003