Commensurate-incommensurate magnetic phase transition in the new Yb1-xLuxMn6Sn6 compounds

We investigate the magnetic properties of the new Yb1-xLuxMn6Sn6 (0.00 <= x <= 1.00) alloys from AC/DC magnetization and powder neutron diffraction experiments. Room-temperature XANES measurements at Yb L-3 edge indicate that Yb is in an intermediate valent state (upsilon(Yb) similar to 2.6) in the whole Yb1-xLuxMn6Sn6 series. In these compounds only the Mn sublattice magnetically orders with an atomic Mn moment close to m(Mn) similar to 2.2 mu(B) at 2 K throughout the series. Lu substitution yields a crossover from ferromagnetism to antiferromagnetism of the Mn sublattice. In RMn6Sn6 compounds, this is the first time that such transition of the Mn sublattice is induced by substitution on the R site. The enhancement of the antiferromagnetic interactions likely results from modification in valence electron concentration since intermediate valent Yb is replaced by trivalent Lu. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.