The magnetic contribution to the specific heat of Pb(1-x)Gd(x)Te

J Phys Condens Matter. 2009 Jul 1;21(26):265802. doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/21/26/265802. Epub 2009 Jun 5.

Abstract

The temperature dependence of the magnetic specific heat of the semimagnetic semiconductor Pb(1-x)Gd(x)Te for x = 0.033 and 0.054, over the temperature range from 0.5 to 10 K, in magnetic fields up to 2 T, has been measured and analyzed theoretically. The maxima of the magnetic specific heat in nonzero magnetic fields are shifted to lower temperatures in comparison with theoretical predictions based on the simple cluster model. We propose a mechanism which explains these shifts. According to our model, they are caused by strong hybridization of the 5d shell of gadolinium with band states of the crystal.