Single crystal of Pr2NiSi3 grown by the Czochralski pulling technique.
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AlB2-type crystal structure with disordered non-magnetic atom sublattice.
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Spin glass freezing at 3.2 K.
Abstract
A single crystal of Pr2NiSi3 was examined by means of x-ray diffraction, magnetization, ac susceptibility, heat capacity and electrical resistivity measurements performed in wide ranges of the temperature and external magnetic fields. The compound crystallizes with simple hexagonal AlB2-type unit cell with crystallographic disorder in the non-magnetic atom sublattice. The results indicate formation at low temperatures of a spin-glass state with characteristic freezing temperature , which most likely originates from intrinsic crystallographic disorder in the AlB2-type unit cell.