Magnetic and specific heat studies of the frustrated Er2Mn2O7 compound

A new Er2Mn2O7 compound was synthesized by the ceramic method and its crystal structure was characterized using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The magnetic properties were investigated using a BS2 magnetometer and the heat capacity was studied using a quantum design (PPMS). The structural study revealed that this compound was monophasic and crystallized in the monoclinic system with the P2/M space group. Magnetization measurements were carried out in the temperature range of 1.8-200 K under an applied magnetic field of 0.05 T. A crossover from a room temperature paramagnetic phase to an antiferromagnetic one at low temperature was detected from the magnetic study. The magnetic susceptibility, in the paramagnetic region above 40 K, was found to present a simple Curie-Weiss type behavior. From the specific heat (C-P) measurements in magnetic fields up to 5 T, we noted the presence of a wide peak characteristic of a second order magneto-structural transition.