X. B. Zhu

Large magnetic entropy change near room temperature in antiperovskite SnCMn3

We report the observation of large magnetocaloric effect near room temperature in antipervoskite SnCMn3. The maximal magnetic entropy change at the first-order ferrimagnetic-paramagnetic transition temperature (TC 279 K) is about 80.69mJ/cm3 K and 133mJ/cm3 K under the magnetic field of 20 kOe and 48 kOe, respectively. These values are close to those of typical magnetocaloric materials. The large magnetocaloric effect is associated with the sharp change of lattice, resistivity and magnetization in the vicinity of TC. Through the measurements of Seebeck coefficient and normal Hall effect, the title system is found to undergo a reconstruction of electronic structure at TC. Considering its low-cost and innocuous raw materials, Mn-based antiperovskite compounds are suggested to be appropriate for pursuing new materials with larger magnetocaloric effect.

Magnetic and dielectric properties of Aurivillius phase Bi6Fe2Ti3O18 and the doped compounds

The magnetic and dielectric properties of Bi6Fe2Ti3O18, Bi6FeCoTi3O18, and Bi5LaFeCoTi3O18 are investigated. The room-temperature ferromagnetism is observed in the samples Bi6FeCoTi3O18 and Bi5LaFeCoTi3O18 compared with the paramagnetic behavior in Bi6Fe2Ti3O18 at room temperature. The ferromagnetism in Bi6FeCoTi3O18 and Bi5LaFeCoTi3O18 can be ascribed to spin canting of the Fe-based and Co-based sublattices via the antisymmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. The frequency-dependent behavior of the dielectric loss peak in Bi6FeCoTi3O18 and Bi5LaFeCoTi3O18 manifests itself a thermally activated relaxation process. The rather large activation energy (2.62 ± 0.11 eV for Bi6FeCoTi3O18 and 1.97 ± 0.07 eV for Bi5LaFeCoTi3O18) implies that the relaxation process is not due to the thermal motion of oxygen vacancies inside ceramics.

Enhanced giant magnetoresistance in Ni-doped antipervoskite compounds GaCMn3−xNix(x=0.05,0.10)

We report an enhanced negative giant magnetoresistance (GMR) with larger temperature span in Ni-doped antipervoskite compounds GaCMn3−xNix. The observed GMR can peak at ∼75% (at 85 kOe) and exceed 60% (at 50 kOe) over a temperature span of approximate 110 and 50K for x=0.05 and 0.10, respectively. Compared with the parent GaCMn3, the well-enhanced GMR in Ni-doped samples is suggested to be associated with the partially suppressed antiferromagnetic (AFM) ground state, which favors the transition from the high-resistivity AFM state to the low-resistivity canted ferromagnetic state under an external magnetic field.

Multiferroic properties of Aurivillius phase Bi6Fe2−xCoxTi3O18 thin films prepared by a chemical solution deposition route

The magnetic and ferroelectric properties of Co-doped Bi6Fe2Ti3O18 thin films Bi6Fe2−xCoxTi3O18 (BFCTO) (0 ≤x≤ 1) are investigated. The coexistence of room-temperature ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity is observed in BFCTO thin films. The x = 0.6 sample exhibits a higher remnant magnetization Mr of 8.41 emu/cm3 and a remnant polarization Pr of 17.6 μC/cm2 compared with other BFCTO thin films. The ferromagnetism can be ascribed to the spin canting of Fe- and Co-based sublattices via the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction [I. Dzyaloshinsky, J. Phys. Chem. Solids 4, 241 (1958); T. Moriya, Phys. Rev. 120, 91 (1960)]. The change in the remnant polarization is discussed in terms of the variation of grain size and oxygen vacancies caused by Co-doping.

Crystal growth and superconductivity of FeSex

In this work, crystals of FeSex have been grown by a flux approach. The crystallization process is divided into two stages. First, stoichiometric polycrystal FeSe0.82 was sintered in a solid state reaction. Then, FeSex crystals with a size about 500 µm were successfully grown in an evacuated sealed quartz tube using a NaCl/KCl flux. The products include two crystal structures: tetragonal and hexagonal. The electronic transport and magnetic property measurements show that FeSex crystals exhibit a superconducting transition at about 10 K.

Observation of spin-glass behavior in antiperovskite compound SnCFe3

We investigated the physical properties of antiperovskite compound SnCFe3 by comprehensive magnetic measurements. The strong irreversibility is clearly observed from zero-field-cooled and field-cooled magnetizations. The peaks of ac susceptibility display strong dependences on the frequency and magnetic field. Both the magnetic relaxation effects and related analysis indicate a typical spin-glass (SG) behavior in SnCFe3. The corresponding characteristic parameters are obtained: the freezing temperature T0=20.3 K, the dynamical exponent zν=9.441, and the flipping time τ0=2.42×10−11 s. Furthermore, the Sn deficiency affects significantly the SG behavior and results in a sharp decrease in T0.

Reversible room-temperature magnetocaloric effect with large temperature span in antiperovskite compounds Ga1-xCMn3+x (x=0, 0.06, 0.07, and 0.08)

The magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Ga1−xCMn3+x have been investigated. Reversible magnetocaloric effect (MCE) occurs near the Curie temperature TC. With increasing x, we find that the magnetic entropy change −ΔSM decreases while TC and magnetization increase. Meanwhile, the temperature span of −ΔSM versus T plot becomes well broadened. Due to the competition between the broadening temperature span and decreasing −ΔSM, the relative cooling power (RCP) increases initially and then decreases with increasing x further. The largest RCP (2.1 J/cm3 in a magnetic field of 45 kOe) observed at x=0.07 (TC=296.5 K) is comparable with the contemporary magnetic refrigerant materials. Considering the reversible MCE, inexpensive and innoxious raw materials, our result suggests that Ga1−xCMn3+x can be a promising candidate for magnetic refrigeration around room temperature.

Diamagnetism, transport, magnetothermoelectric power, and magnetothermal conductivity in electron-doped CaMn1−xVxO3 manganites

The effects of V doping on field-cooled magnetization MFC(T), zero-field-cooled magnetization MZFC(T), resistivity ρ, thermoelectric power S, and thermal conductivity κ in manganites CaMn1−xVxO3 (0.02⩽x⩽0.08) have been investigated systematically. As the V doping level exceeds 0.02, an anomalous “diamagnetism” has been observed. It is suggested that the force generated by the orbit rotation of eg electron in Mn3+O6 octahedron makes the spin tilt, as a result, the vector sum of individual spins may be along or opposite to the direction of the applied magnetic field, and macroscopically, the average magnetization exhibits positive or negative values. In addition, the transport mechanism in the high and low temperature ranges is dominated by the small polaron conduction and the variable-range-hopping conduction, respectively, according to the fitting analysis of the temperature dependence of Seebeck coefficient S(T) and resistivity ρ(T). Both S and κ peaks appearing at low temperature is gradually suppressed...

Structural, magnetic, electrical transport properties, and reversible room-temperature magnetocaloric effect in antipervoskite compound AlCMn3

We report the structural, magnetic, electrical transport properties, and magnetocaloric effect (MCE) of antipervoskite compound AlCMn3. It exhibits a second-order ferromagnetic–paramagnetic phase transition around (TC) 287 K. The electronic resistivity (ρ) shows a good metallic behavior except for a slope change around TC. At lower temperatures (below 130 K), ρ∝T2 indicates that the electron-electron scatterings domain. At evaluated temperatures (130–270 K), ρ is linear dependence on temperature, implying that the phonon scatterings boost up greatly. Furthermore, a broad distribution of the magnetic entropy change (−ΔSM) peak is found to about 100 K with the magnetic field change ΔH=45 kOe. The relative cooling power are ∼137 J/kg and ∼328 J/kg (or ∼68 K2 and ∼162 K2) with ΔH=20 kOe and 45 kOe, respectively. All these values are comparable with the typical MCE associated with a second-order transition. It suggests that AlCMn3 may be considered as a candidate material for near room-temperature magnetic ref...

Magnetic and dielectric properties of Aurivillius phase Bi6Fe2Ti3−2xNbxCoxO18 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4)

We investigate the structural, magnetic, and dielectric properties of Bi6Fe2Ti3−2xNbxCoxO18 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4). The room-temperature ferromagnetism is observed in the Nb and Co co-doped samples compared with the paramagnetic behavior in Bi6Fe2Ti3O18. The ferromagnetism in Bi6Fe2Ti3−2xNbxCoxO18 can be understood in terms of spin canting of the antiferromagnetic coupling of the Fe-based and Co-based sublattices via Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction. Moreover, doping Co at Ti sites can significantly enhance the ferromagnetic Curie temperature compared with the substitution of Co for Fe in the Aurivillius compounds. The dielectric loss of Bi6Fe2Ti3−2xNbxCoxO18 (0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.4) exhibits a relaxation process. The rather large activation energy in the 0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.3 samples implies that the relaxation process is not due to the thermal motion of oxygen vacancies inside ceramics.