Anisotropic magnetic properties of the ferromagnetic semiconductor CrSbSe3

Abstract

© 2018 American Physical Society. Single crystals of CrSbSe3, a structurally pseudo-one-dimensional ferromagnetic semiconductor, were grown using a high-temperature solution growth technique and were characterized by x-ray diffraction, anisotropic temperature- and field-dependent magnetization, temperature-dependent resistivity, and optical absorption measurements. A band gap of 0.7 eV was determined from both resistivity and optical measurements. At high temperatures, CrSbSe3 is paramagnetic and isotropic, with a Curie-Weiss temperature of ∼145K and an effective moment of ∼4.1μB/Cr. A ferromagnetic transition occurs at Tc=71 K. The a axis, perpendicular to the chains in the structure, is the magnetic easy axis, while the chain axis direction, along b, is the hard axis. Magnetic isotherms measured around Tc do not follow the behavior predicted by simple mean-field critical exponents for a second-order phase transition. A tentative set of critical exponents is estimated based on a modified Arrott plot analysis, giving β∼0.25, γ∼1.38, and δ∼6.6.