Mössbauer study of the transition metal phosphorus trichalcogenide FePS₃ and spin glass Mn_0.5Fe_0.5PS₃

Abstract

The transition metal phosphorus trichalcogenides MnPS₃ and the FePS₃ are CdCl₂ type layered compounds, where the transition metal ions form a hexagonal lattice. While these compounds order anti-ferromagnetically at low temperature, the magnetic structures are different. We have reported that these mixtures Mn_0.5Fe_0.5PS₃ is a spin glass with a glass transition temperature T _g=33.7 K. Then, in this work, we report that the results of the temperature variation of the ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra of FePS₃ and Mn_0.5Fe_0.5PS₃, in detail. In the anti-ferromagnetic state of FePS₃, the hyperfine magnetic field H _int increases with decreasing temperature and the Isomer shift I. S. increases slightly with decreasing temperature. However in Mn_0.5Fe_0.5PS₃, the two broadened peaks are observed and the two peaks became a single peak with decreasing temperature at about 50.0 K, which is higher than T _g=33.7 K. In the spin glass Mn_0.5Fe_0.5PS₃, the Mössbauer spectra suggest that the magnetic interactions exist far above T _g.