Effect of cation substitution on critical fields in the n-type Zn xSnyCrzSe4 spinel semiconductors

Abstract

The ac dynamic magnetic susceptibility was used to study a cation substitution on critical fields in polycrystalline (Zn0:87Sn0:048)Cr2:02Se4 and Zn0:93[Cr1:95Sn0:05]Se4 spinels with tetra- and octahedral coordination of Sn ions, respectively. An increasing static magnetic field shifts the Néel temperature TN to lower temperatures while a susceptibility peak at Tm in the paramagnetic region — to higher temperatures. Below TN the magnetic field dependence of susceptibility, Âac(H), shows two peaks at critical fields Hc1 and Hc2. The values of Hc1 decrease slightly with temperature while the values of Hc2 decrease strongly with temperature, especially for spinel with octahedral coordination of Sn ions, suggesting a weakness of the ferromagnetic component.