Ultrapure metallic materials

Title: Ultrapure metallic materials Author: Bc. Marcela Janatová Department: Department of Condensed Matter Physics Supervisor: RNDr. Jana Poltierová Vejpravová, Ph.D. Supervisor's e-mail address: jana@mag.mff.cuni.cz Abstract This thesis deals with crystal structure and magnetic properties of RCr2Si2 (R = Pr, Tb, Er) and RCr2Si2C (R = La, Ce, Pr, Nd) compounds. All prepared samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction and investigated by specific-heat, magne- tization and AC-susceptibility measurements in the temperature range 2-900 K and in magnetic fields up to 9 T. The results suggest non-trivial magnetic ordering of the Cr sublattice in all studied compounds, accompanied with ferromagnetic ordering of the Pr and Nd magnetic moments below the Curie temperature of 30 and 21 K in PrCr2Si2C and NdCr2Si2C, respectively, and possible metamagnetism in CeCr2Si2C. For RCr2Si2C compounds, the experimental evidence of Cr magnetism is corrobora- ted by results of extended first-principles calculations based on the density functional theory. Keywords: RCr2Si2 compounds; RCr2Si2C compounds; Magnetic ordering; Heat ca- pacity; Magnetization