Magnetic properties of ternary chromium sulfides, VxCr3 –xS4(0 ⩽x⩽1.0)

Abstract

A series of phases V_xCr_{3 –x}S₄(0.0 ⩽x⩽ 1.0) have been prepared by high-temperature synthesis and characterised by thermogravimetry, energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis and powder X-ray diffraction in conjunction with Rietveld profile analysis. Data are consistent with the formation of single-phase products which all adopt the Cr₃S₄ structure (space group I2/m: a≈ 5.9, b≈ 3.4, c≈ 11.2 Å, β≈ 91.4°). Magnetic susceptibility data indicate that spin-glass behaviour persists in the range 0.4 ⩽x⩽ 1.0, whilst data for x= 0.2 suggest that there is a slow freezing of spins prior to the onset of long-range magnetic ordering observed for x= 0.0.