Suppression of ferromagnetism in the La(VxCr1−x)Sb3system

To explore the possibility of quantum phase transitions and even quantum criticality in LaCrSb based compounds, we performed measurements under pressure as well as a vanadium substitution study. The Curie temperature of LaCrSb was found to be invariant under pressure. Although pressure was not able to suppress the ferromagnetism, chemical substitution was used as another parameter to tune the magnetism. We grew La(VCr)Sb (x = 0–1.0) single crystals and studied the series by measurements of temperature- and field-dependent magnetic susceptibility, magnetization, resistivity and specific heat. Ferromagnetism has been observed for , and the system manifests a strong anisotropy in its ordered state. The Curie temperature decreases monotonically as the V concentration increases. For , the system enters a new magnetic state at low temperatures, and no magnetic ordering above 1.8 K can be observed for . The effective moment /Cr varies only slightly as the V concentration increases, from 3.9 for = 0 to 2.9 for = 0.88. Features related to quantum criticality have not been observed in the La(VCr)Sb system.