Competition between 3d and 4f magnetism in Ce2Fe2S5

Magnetic susceptibility measurements and neutron powder diffraction were performed on the rare-earth transition-metal sulfide Ce2Fe2S5 to study the effect of the substitution of nonmagnetic La3+ (4f(0)) by Ce3+ 4f(1)). Ce2Fe2S5, which is isostructural to La2Fe2S5, contains Fe2+ ions within chains of iron-sulfur octahedra and tetrahedra that are interconnected by Ce2+ ions. Two anti ferromagnetic phases, both with the propagation vector tau = ((1)/(1)(2)/(2)0), are observed: at 5 K <= T <= 80 K ordering of the Fe2+ moments is found; at T <= 5 K the Ce3+ ions also participate in the magnetic ordering. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.