High-field magnetization of magnetic graphite intercalation compounds

Abstract

We report low-temperature, high-field (T≤4.2 K, H=0-18 teslas) magnetization measurements of CoCl2- and NiCl2-graphite intercalation compounds (GIC’s), both parallel (M?) and perpendicular (M⊥) to the c axis. From the saturation magnetization values of the stage-1 and stage-2 CoCl2-GIC’s, we have been able to measure the anisotropy of the g values, and thus calculate the amount of XY spin anisotropy in these compounds. Magnetization measurements show that upon intercalation, the Co2+ ions retain their anisotropic magnetic behavior. In addition, the state-1 CoCl2-GIC’s exhibit unusual hysteresis phenomena when the magnetization is measured along the c axis. Upon doping of the stage-1 CoCl2-GIC’s with nonmagnetic Mg2+ ions, the magnitude of the hysteresis in M?(H) decreases and the magnetization saturates. In contrast to the behavior of the stage-1 CoCl2-GIC’s, state-1 NiCl2-GIC’s exhibit a very small XY spin anisotropy. The magnetization M?(H) is featureless for magnetic fields H>1 tesla and exhibits no high-field hysteresis. The high-field c-axis magnetization of unintercalated highly oriented pyrolytic graphite was also examined; the susceptibility was χ==M/H=-28.5×10-6 emu/g, and low-field de Haas–van Alphen oscillations were observed with a frequency consistent with previously identified majority hole carriers.