Evidence for spin-glass state in nonmagnetic atom disorder compound PrAgIn

Li, D. X.*; Yamamura, Tomoo*; Yubuta, Kunio*; Nimori, Shigeki*; Haga, Yoshinori   ; Shikama, Tatsuo*

A systematic investigation of magnetic properties has been performed on intermetallic compound PrAgIn, which crystallizes in a disordered hexagonal CaIn-type structure. The results provide clear evidence for the formation of spin-glass state in PrAgIn below a spin freezing temperature 3.7 K accompanied with a short-range magnetic order. The spin-glass state in PrAgIn can be considered to originate from the continued site randomness of the non- magnetic elements, Ag and In, which introduce the random distribution of the RKKY interactions.