Pressure-induced magnetic phase transition in CrTe at approximately 7 GPa

High-pressure ac susceptibility and magnetization measurements have been made for the itinerant ferromagnet Cr48Te52 up to 8.5 and 17.2 GPa, respectively, to investigate the existence of a pressure-induced magnetic phase transition. The Curie temperature T-c (342 K at ambient pressure) decreased with increasing pressure at a rate of -53 K / GPa together with the height of the susceptibility peak associated with the paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition. On applying pressures of 5-7 CPa, T-c decreased to about 70 K, and at pressures above 7 GPa any anomaly was not observed in the temperature dependence of the susceptibility. Magnetization measurements at low magnetic fields showed hysteresis of the M-T curves at low temperature which disappeared at about 7 GPa. These results suggest that the pressure-induced magnetic phase transition occurs at about 7 GPa in Cr48Te52. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.