Magnetic contribution to the specific heat ofPb1−xMnxTe

Abstract

Temperature dependence of magnetic specific heat and magnetic susceptibility has been studied experimentally and theoretically in the semimagnetic semiconductor ${\mathrm{Pb}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Mn}}_{x}\mathrm{Te}$ for $x=0.024$ and $x=0.056,$ over the temperature range from 0.5 to 15 K, in magnetic fields up to 4 T. There was usually a maximum in the magnetic specific heat around 1 K in zero and low magnetic fields; the maximum shifted toward higher temperatures with increasing magnetic field. The experimental data have been analyzed in the framework of magnetic cluster models. An analysis of the influence of local lattice distortions and $\mathrm{sp}\ensuremath{-}d$ exchange coupling has been performed.