Beirne, Eamonn; (2002) Magnetic Properties of the Intermetallic Compounds PrNiSn and NdNiSn. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Preview

Text Magnetic properties of the intermetallic compounds PrNiSn and NdNiSn.pdf Download (16MB) | Preview

Abstract

Inelastic neutron scattering has been used to determine the crystalline electric field (CEF) excitations in the intermetallic compound PrNiSn. Polycrystalline samples of PiNiSn are found to have 7 excitations up to 30 meV, with strong low-lying modes at 2.0, 3.5, and 5.1 meV. The site symmetry of Pr3+ in this system is such that the degeneracy of the 9 levels in the J = 4 ground state multiplet is removed completely by the crystal field. From fitting this data, it is clear that the ground state is a singlet that couples to each of the other 8 excited states. The wavefunctions of the levels are determined and a level scheme proposed for this material. Inelastic scattering results are also presented for a single crystal of PrNiSn. The dispersion of the low-lying E = 3.5 meV CEF excitation is documented, showing 4 distinct modes corresponding to the 4 Pr ions in the unit cell. Susceptibility and magnetisation results for PrNiSn and NdNiSn are presented. From these measurements it is clear that the PrNiSn does not order magnetically down to 2K, whereas NdNiSn has an antiferromagnetic transition at TN = 3.1K. Resistivity measurements on PrNiSn also show no evidence of a magnetic transition, but there are gradient changes at around 4.5K and 12K. This corresponds to a local maximum at 12K and local minimum at 4.5K along the b-axis in this compound. Measurements on single crystals of these compounds show strong anisotropy in both cases, attributed to CEF effects. From the proposed CEF level scheme, the bulk properties such as the susceptibility can be modelled. Neutron powder diffraction measurements on both PrNiSn and NdNiSn confirm that there is no magnetic transition down to 1.6K in PrNiSn, and TN is confirmed for NdNiSn. Structural Rietveld fitting confirms the room temperature orthorhombic structure in both systems down to low temperature, but the magnetic structure of NdNiSn can not be determined. This is due to the magnetic peaks below TN doubling up, indicating a very complicated magnetic structure. It is clear a diffraction experiment on a single crystal of NdNiSn is needed to resolve the magnetic structure. Finally, these results and conclusions are put into context by comparisons with other RNiSn compounds, notably CeNiSn, and with UNiSn.

Download activity - last month

Export as CSVJSONXML

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as XMLJSONCSV

Archive Staff Only

View Item