Single ion anisotropy and soft-mode-driven magnetic ordering in PrNi

✍ Scribed by E.S Clementyev; P.A Alekseev; P Allenspach; G Lapertot; V.N Lazukov

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 241 KB
• Volume: 350
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0921-4526
• DOI: 10.1016/j.physb.2004.03.023

✦ Synopsis

Low-energy magnetic excitations have been studied in the singlet-ground-state ferromagnet PrNi and in its paramagnetic analogue Pr 0.07 La 0.93 Ni. Two crystal-field transitions are clearly seen in both systems along the main crystallographic directions at energy-transfers up to 6 meV. One of these excitations in PrNi exhibits progressive softening at temperatures approaching T c (T c =20.5 K). The observed anisotropy of the single-ion excitations in Pr 0.07 La 0.93 Ni along with the Q-dependence of the magnetic modes in PrNi provide crucial indications for the understanding of the soft-mode-driven magnetic ordering in the latter compound.