Magnetic properties of a pseudo-one-dimensional ferrimagnetic semiconductor Eu3Sb4Se9

• Published in: Applied physics letters 2020-12, Vol.117 (23)
• Main Authors: Wang, Shijie, Wu, Yuelong, Cao, Tianqi, Wang, Xiaoxiong, Long, Yun-Ze, Chen, Dong, Teng, Bing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied physics; Crystal structure; Crystallinity; Electrical resistivity; Ferrimagnetism; Ferromagnetism; Magnetic properties; Magnetism; Mean field theory; Phase diagrams; Phase transitions; Single crystals; Temperature dependence
• ISSN: 0003-6951; 1077-3118
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0032920

The resistivity, anisotropic magnetic properties, and magnetic critical behavior of single-crystalline Eu3Sb4Se9 with a pseudo-one-dimensional structure have been studied. The resistivity shows a semiconducting temperature dependence, which gives a bandgap of 0.65 eV. The samples are paramagnetic and isotropic at high temperatures and undergo a transition at Tc = 5.1 K into a ferrimagnetic phase. The long crystal dimension, the crystalline b axis, is the easy axis. Below Tc, the samples have a further metamagnetic transition from the ferrimagnetic to ferromagnetic state when the field is along the easy axis. The low-field magnetization around Tc cannot be described by the mean-field theory for a second-order phase transition, but can be well fitted by the modified Arrott plot, which gives a set of critical exponents β = 0.82, γ = 1.08, and δ = 2.35. The magnetic phase diagram for the field applied parallel to the easy axis is finally established.