Magnetic properties of Ce3+ in PbCeA (A= Te, Se, S)

Abstract

The magnetic susceptibility of Pb1-xCexA (A = S, Se and Te) crystals with 0.006 ×0.036 were studied in the temperature range from 20 mK up to room temperature. X-band (-9.5 GHz) Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) showed small shifts in the effective Land factors that were attributed to crystal-field admixture. The EPR measurements were correlated with the magnetic susceptibility data and resulted in estimating the crystal-field splitting = E(8) - E(7) of the lowest 2F 5/2 manifold for Ce3+ ions in PbA (A = S, Se and Te) of about 340 K, 440 K and 540 K for Pb1-xCexTe, Pb 1-xCexSe, and Pb1-xCexS, respectively. The values for the crystal-field splitting deduced from the magnetic data were found to be in agreement with the calculated ones based on the point charge model. Moreover, the deHaas van-Alphen magnetic oscillations in the susceptibility measurements of Pb1-xCexTe (x- 0.05 and 0.07) were observed at ultra-low temperature (20 mK); The oscillations were investigated and the values of the oscillatory period for Pb 1-xCexTe (x = 0.0048 and 0.007) are reported. © Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2013.