Pressure-Tunable Crystal Structure and Magnetic Transition Temperature of the Nowotny Chimney-Ladder CrGeγ Phase

A Nowotny chimney-ladder (NCL) chromium germanide (CrGeγ) with varying compositions has been synthesized under high pressure. Crystal structure parameters of the NCL CrGeγ have been calculated by Le Bail refinement based on the superspace group. The refined γ of CrGeγ increases with the synthesis pressure, indicating an increasing Ge content. The NCL CrGeγ phases are ferromagnetic at T = 2 K regardless of their composition, and the magnetic transition temperature (TC) increases when the γ becomes higher. It is noteworthy that CrGe1.763 and CrGe1.774 synthesized at P = 10 and 14 GPa have magnetic transition temperatures of T = 295 and 333 K above room temperature, respectively. Surprisingly, the magnetic transition temperature has changed by ΔTC = 270 K, although the γ values of the raw material and the sample synthesized at P = 14 GPa differ by only Δγ = 0.05, corresponding to an atomic concentration of 0.62 atom %. The synthesis pressure acts as an essential parameter in tuning the composition of the NCL phase. Accordingly, the high-pressure synthesis may significantly control several physical characteristics of NCL phases by utilizing compositional and structural modulation.