Ferromagnetic ordering of iron impurities in the valence-fluctuating semiconductor SmB6

Abstract

The electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) of the valence-fluctuating semiconductor SmB6 doped by 1 at % Fe is studied. The EPR measurements are performed on a SmB6 single crystal in a temperature range of 1.6–300.0 K. A number of resonance lines whose g factors indicate the presence of iron ions in the Fe0, Fe+, Fe2+, and Fe3+ states have been detected. The iron ions are ferromagnetically ordered below a Curie temperature T = 100 K, and this ordering can be caused by the exchange interaction of impurity ions due to matrix polarization (a similar mechanism is observed in PdFe alloys). This exchange interaction is estimated to be significantly higher than that in PdFe; this fact can result from a very high density of states in the narrow f band, which is characteristic of a valence-fluctuating material.