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Magnetic Properties of Gd-Substituted Yttrium Nitride
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2011
Abstract
Gd2Y1-xN is an instantiation of the broad series of diluted magnetic materials composed of lanthanide nitrides in a Sc, Y or La nitride host. These lanthanoid nitrides are interstitial compounds which all form in the Bi structure and with similar lattice constants, so solid solutions are readily obtained. We have prepared single-crystal thin films by epitaxial growth on sapphire substrates, and obtained material with moderate carrier densities (n Hall∼10 21 cm-3) and mobilities (μHall∼10 cm2V-1sec-1). Below the ordering temperature Tc,∼15 K the GdxY1-x,N films (0.25<x<0.40) exhibit a ferromagnetic-like M-H loop. The saturation magnetization measured at 15 kOe and 4.2 K is anomalously low, representing an effective moment of only 4.2 μB per Gd compared to the expected value of at least 7.2 μB. The piecewise-linear M-H curve is inconsistent with conventional models for a simple anisotropic ferromagnet. These features illustrate some of the unusual properties we are beginning to identify in the behavior of these new materials.
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- Copyright © Materials Research Society 1987
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