Magnetic and Structural Properties of PrAg at High Pressure

Abstract

Measurements of electrical resistivity, ac magnetic susceptibility and magnetization of PrAg were carried under pressures up to 17 kbar, in a temperature range from 2.3 K to 300 K and in fields up to 20 kOe. At ambient pressure, the Néel point T_N and the Curie point T_c are 10.6 K and 7.8 K, respectively. When pressure p increases, T_N is almost constant, while T_c increases largely, coincides with T_N around 7 kbar and is almost constant at pressure up to critical pressure p_c\simeq10 kbar, where structural transition T_M appears. At p_c, T_N and T_c values become 13 K and 7 K, respectively. With further increasing p, T_M increases and T_c decreases drastically while T_N slightly decreases. The spontaneous magnetization increases almost linearly with increasing p, reaches a maximum value near p_c and then decreases very rapidly above p_c.