Influence of manganese on magnetic and electronic properties of ZnCr{sub 2}Se{sub 4}

Highlights: ► The ZnCr{sub 2}Se{sub 4} – single crystals doped with manganese. ► Chemical vapor transport with CrCl{sub 3} as transport agent. ► 3d{sup 3} electronic configuration of Cr{sup 3+} ion with localized magnetic moment of about 3 μ{sub B}. ► Magnetic parameters increase with increasing Mn amount in single crystals. -- Abstract: The Zn{sub 1−x}Mn{sub x}Cr{sub 2}Se{sub 4} crystals were prepared by chemical vapor transport in closed silica tubes using ZnSe and MnSe with CrCl{sub 3} as the transport agent. Four crystals with different Mn content (x = 0.12, 0.13, 0.18 and 0.24) were studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and magnetic measurements in order to determine influence of manganese on their magnetic and electronic properties. The XPS revealed no change of chemical shifts of Cr core lines indicating a Cr{sup 3+} (3d{sup 3}) electronic configuration. Magnetization measurements revealed a systematic increase in saturation magnetic moments from 6.32 μ{sub B}/mol for x = 0.12 to 7.63 μ{sub B}/mol for x = 0.24, as well as effective paramagnetic Bohr magneton numbers from 4.87 μ{sub B}/mol for x = 0.12 to 6.91 μ{sub B}/mol for x = 0.24.