Spin-glass-like behavior in ZnxCryAlzSe4

The magnetic and electrical properties of the Al-doped polycrystalline spinels ZnxCryAlzSe4 (0.13≤z≤0.55) with the antiferromagnetic (AFM) order and semiconducting behavior were investigated. A complex antiferromagnetic structure below a Néel temperature TN≈23 K for the samples with z up to 0.4 contrasting with the strong ferromagnetic (FM) interactions evidenced by a large positive Curie–Weiss temperature θCW decreasing from 62.2 K for z=0.13 to 37.5 K for z=0.55 was observed. Detailed investigations revealed a divergence between the zero-field-cooling (ZFC) and field-cooling (FC) susceptibilities at temperature less than TN suggesting bond frustration due to competing ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic exchange interactions in the compositional range 0.13≤z≤0.4. Meanwhile, for z=0.55 a spin-glass-like behavior of cluster type with randomly oriented magnetic moments is observed as the ZFC–FC splitting goes up to the freezing temperature Tf=11.5 K and the critical fields connected both with a transformation of the antiferromagnetic spin spiral via conical magnetic structure into ferromagnetic phase disappear.