Peculiar magnetism of transition metal cluster compounds

Abstract

We discuss a class of solids which have in their structure fairly separated tetrahederal clusters of transition metals: vanadium and molybednum. With decreasing temperature these compounds undergo a structural transition from cubic to rhombohederal phase at a temperature T_s, followed by a transition to a ferromagnetic phase at a lower temperarure T_c. Magnetic measurements indicate the presence of moments of spin half per cluster. Between T_c and T_s susceptibility shows large departures from Curie-Weiss behavior and specific heat has an unusually large non-phononic contribution. We present a model in which each cluster acts as a unit associated with a magnetic moment of spin half and a structural degree of freedom related to distortions of the tetrahedron. Our model accounts for all the observed features including effects due to external pressure and magnetic field.