Spin glass behaviors of Ge-doped Tb2NiSi3 compound
摘要
Structure and magnetic properties of intermetallic compounds Tb2Ni(Si1-xGex)3 were investigated with Ge-doping contents x = 0, 0.1 0.2 and 0.5. Based on XRD characterization, hexagonal AlB2 type phase of Tb2NiSi3 consists of Tb-ion layers and Ni-Si layers alternating arrangement along the c-axis was confirmed. After Ge doping, a chemically ordered secondary phase appears. With the increase of Ge-doping, content of the secondary phase increases. The magnetic measurements of dc susceptibility and ac susceptibility were done using a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) at low temperature. In the temperature dependence of dc susceptibility measurement, obvious anomalies are observed at about 12 K and 4 K for all the samples. At about 12 K, long-range magnetic ordered phase transitions occur, the transition temperatures tend to increase when x increase. At about 4 K, the samples show cluster like spin glass behaviors. The spin glass intensities enhance with the increasing in Ge-doping, which can be mainly attributed to the existence of chemically ordered secondary phase.