STRUCTURAL AND MAGNETIC-PROPERTIES OF ME(2)[FE(CN)(6)] COMPOUNDS, WHERE ME ARE 3D TRANSITION-METALS

We have studied the structural and magnetic properties of the Me(2)[Fe(CN)(6)] family. The X-ray measurements were carried out at room temperature and the magnetic studies in the temperature range 4.2-260 K using static magnetic fields up to 12 T. From the X-ray analysis results the compounds crystallize in the face-centered cubic structure with the space group F43m. Both the Fe and Me ions are coordinated octahedrally by six carbon atoms and six nitrogen atoms, respectively. The Fe ions are in a strong crystalline field and the Me ions in an intermediate one of cubic symmetry. From the magnetization versus temperature curves we obtain the critical temperatures, the Curie-Weiss temperatures, the Curie constants, as well as the effective moments in the paramagnetic state. From the field dependence of the magnetization we determine the saturation magnetization and the high-field susceptibility. The data suggest that only the divalent Me cations are magnetic and coupled ferromagnetically between each other. The magnetic properties of the compounds were analyzed in the framework of the mean field theory.