Suppression of ferromagnetism and emergence of spin-glass-like behavior in the CuCr2−𝑥Sn𝑥S2Se2 spinels

Abstract

Magnetometry, neutron diffraction experiments, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) were performed to study the magnetic behavior of CuCr2−xSnxS2Se2 (0.2 x 1.0) solid solutions and experimentally determine the appropriate magnetic structure for these systems. For all samples, the main phase with normal spinel-type structure (F d3¯m) was refined. For low Sn concentration a minority monoclinic phase appears also corroborated with HRTEM analyses. Together with the results from magnetization experiments, neutron diffraction measurements allowed to establish that for samples with x 0.4 there is a ferromagnetic long-range order at high temperatures labeled with the 3d irrep +4 of F d3m.1`, while for x > 0.4 no magnetic signal is observed, indicating that the ferromagnetic behavior is suppressed and replaced with a spin-glass-like state.