Abstract
The magnetization, resistivity, and magnetoresistance (MR) of single crystals of and are measured over a wide range of dc magnetic fields (up to ) and temperature. In , the Co ions are trivalent and can exist in three spin states, namely, the low-spin (LS) state, the intermediate-spin (IS) state, and the high-spin (HS) state. We confirm that and have a metal-insulator transition accompanied by a spin-state transition at and respectively. The data suggest an equal ratio of LS and IS ions below , with no indication of additional spin state transitions. The low-field magnetization shows a transition to a highly anisotropic ferromagnetic phase at , followed by another magnetic transition to an antiferromagnetic phase at a slightly lower temperature. The magnetization data are suggestive of weak correlations between the Gd spins but no clear signature of ordering is seen for . Significant anisotropy between the plane and axis was observed in magnetic and magnetotransport properties for both compounds. For , the resistivity and MR data imply a strong correlation between the spin-order and charge carriers. For , the magnetic phase diagram is very similar to its Gd counterpart, but the low- MR with current flow in the plane is positive rather than negative as for Gd. The magnitude and the hysteresis of the MR for decrease with increasing temperature, and at higher the MR changes sign and becomes negative. The difference in the behavior of both compounds may arise from a small valence admixture in the nonmagnetic Eu ions, i.e., a valence slightly less than .
- Received 6 February 2004
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.70.024425
©2004 American Physical Society