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Abstract:
The Fe sublattice in the compound ZrFe4Si2 features geometrical frustration and quasi-one-dimensionality. We therefore investigated the magnetic behavior in ZrFe4Si2 and its evolution upon substituting Ge for Si and under the application of hydrostatic pressure using structural, magnetic, thermodynamic, and electrical-transport probes. Magnetic measurements reveal that ZrFe4Si2 holds paramagnetic Fe moments with an effective moment mu(eff) = 2.18 mu(B). At low temperatures the compound shows a weak short-range magnetic order below 6 K. Our studies demonstrate that substituting Ge for Si increases the unit-cell volume and stabilizes the short-range order into a long-range spin-density wave type magnetic order. On the other hand, hydrostatic pressure studies using electrical-resistivity measurements on ZrFe4(Si0.88Ge0.12)(2) indicate a continuous suppression of the magnetic ordering upon increasing pressure. Therefore, our combined chemical substitution and hydrostatic pressure studies suggest the existence of a lattice-volume-controlled quantum critical point in ZrFe4Si2.
