RESUMO
A comparative study of four series of pyrrhotite-type chalcogenide compounds Fe(7-y)M(y)X(8) (X = S, Se) with substitution of Ti or Co for iron has been performed by means of x-ray and neutron powder diffraction, and by magnetization measurements. In Fe(7-y)M(y)X(8) compounds having a ferrimagnetic order at y = 0, the substitution of either Ti or Co for iron is observed to result in a monotonous decrease of the magnetic ordering temperature, while the resultant magnetization shows a non-monotonous behavior with a minimum around y = 1.0-1.5 in all the Fe(7-y)M(y)X(8) families except Fe(7-y)Co(y)Se(8). Suppression of a magnetically ordered state with substitutions in Fe(7-y)M(y)X(8) is ascribed to nearly zero values of Ti and Co magnetic moments, while the non-monotonous changes of the resultant magnetization are explained by the compensation of the sublattice magnetizations due to the non-random substitutions in alternating metallic layers. The difference in the cation partitioning observed in Fe(7-y)Ti(y)X(8) and Fe(7-y)Co(y)X(8) is attributed to the difference in the spatial extension of Ti and Co 3d orbitals. High coercive field values (20-24 kOe) observed at low temperatures in the Ti-containing compounds Fe(7-y)Ti(y)X(8) with y ⩾ 3 are suggested to result from the enhancement of Fe orbital moment due to the Ti for Fe substitution.
RESUMO
AC- and DC-susceptibility, high-field magnetization and neutron diffraction measurements have been performed in order to study the magnetic state of R5Pd2 (R = Ho, Tb) compounds. The results show that both compounds undergo cluster-glass freezing upon cooling below Tf. According to the neutron diffraction a long-range magnetic order is absent down to 2 K and magnetic clusters with short-range incommensurate antiferromagnetic correlations exist not only below Tf but also in a wide temperature range above the freezing temperature (at least up to 2Tf). A complex cluster-glass magnetic state existing in Ho5Pd2 and Tb5Pd2 down to low temperatures results in rather complicated magnetization behavior in DC and AC magnetic fields. Such an unusual magnetic state in compounds with a high rare-earth concentration may be associated with the layered type of their crystal structure and with substantial atomic disorder, which results in frustrations in the magnetic subsystem.
