Magnetic Properties of the Systems (Cr, Fe) Sb and (Cr, Co) Sb

Abstract

Magnetic measurements were made of the systems (Cr_1.01Sb)_1−x(Fe_1.22Sb)_x and (Cr_1.01Sb)_1−x(Co_1.13Sb)_x. In both systems, ferromagnetism appeared in the intermediate range of x. In the (Cr, Fe)Sb system maximum of the spontaneous magnetization and the Curie temperature was found at x=0.6. However, the temperature variation of the magnetization near the Curie temperature was not so sharp as in the usual ferromagnet, and also the high field susceptibility at low temperatures was anomalously high. X-ray and neutron diffraction measurements revealed that there was no miscibility gap between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases. Mössbauer effect showed that, for x=0.8 the internal field on Fe⁵⁷ nuclei was about 90 kOe, and the isomer shift (against stainless steel) was 0.54 mm/sec. The anomalous behavior of magnetization was even more pronounced in the (Cr, Co)Sb system. Ferromagnetic interactions Cr–Sb–Fe and Cr–Sb–Co can well be interpreted on the basis of the Goodenough-Kanamori theory.