Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2021) 136: 840
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-021-01842-w

Regular Article

Magnetic-field-induced avalanches in magnetization and magnetoresistance of La_0.9Ce_0.1Fe₁₂B₆ compound

¹ Université de Lorraine, CNRS, IJL, 54000, Nancy, France
² Université Grenoble Alpes, Institut NEEL CNRS, 25 rue des martyrs, 38042, Grenoble, France

^a leopold.diop@univ-lorraine.fr

Received: 14 May 2021
Accepted: 5 August 2021
Published online: 13 August 2021

Abstract

Competition between paramagnetic (PM), antiferromagnetic (AFM) and ferromagnetic (FM) phases in La_0.9Ce_0.1Fe₁₂B₆ itinerant-electron metamagnetic system is studied by a combination of magnetic, electrical resistivity and magnetoresistance measurements. La_0.9Ce_0.1Fe₁₂B₆ is an antiferromagnet below the Néel temperature (35 K) and presents two consecutive magnetic transitions AFM–FM and FM–PM during warming under certain applied magnetic field values. We further demonstrate that both AFM and PM phases may be converted into the FM phase irreversibly and reversibly via a first-order metamagnetic transition accompanied by a large magnetic field hysteresis. At very low temperatures, the magnetic-field-driven AFM–FM metamagnetic transformation is discontinuous and proceeds by multiple abrupt steps in magnetization and magnetoresistance. In addition, an extraordinarily large negative magnetoresistance (MR) effect of −77% is observed. The consistency found in the magnetotransport and magnetization data suggests strong correlations between charge and spin degrees of freedom in La_0.9Ce_0.1Fe₁₂B₆ system.