Influence of substitution of the chromium ions by the nonmagnetic Sb and Al ions on the magnetization processes in CuCr2X4 (X = S, Se) spinels

Abstract

Both the dc and ac magnetic susceptibilities as well as magnetization measurements were used to study the influence of the dilution of the magnetic chromium subarray by nonmagnetic antimony and aluminium ions on the magnetization processes for four spinel families under investigation. Substitution of the chromium ions by the nonmagnetic Sb and Al ions in the compounds under study leads to the very hard magnetization in the case of the compounds with Sb and very easy magnetization in the compounds with Al. This effect is connected with the electronic configurations of the Sb and Al ions as well as with ionic radii of these cations.