In this paper,magnetic and dielectric properties of the quasi-two-dimensional triangular-lattice system CuCrS2 and its B-site-diluted analogs CuAl1?xCrxS2(x = 0.01 and x = 0.02) are investigated.Antiferromagnetic phase transition is observed at about 38.5 K by magnetization measurement without shift induced by a small amount of doping Al.Magnetodielectric effect is found near TN in each of the three compounds.The dielectric constant decreases and the magnetocapacitance increases with the increase of substitution of nonmagnetic Al3+ ions for the magnetic Cr3+ ions.The negative magnetocapacitive effect reaches ～ 13% for CuAl0.02Cr0.98S2.
The crystallographic structure and magnetic properties of La(Fe 11.4 Al 1.6 )C 0.02 are studied by magnetic measure- ment and powder neutron diffraction with temperature and applied magnetic field. Rietveld refinement shows that La(Fe 11.4 Al 1.6 )C 0.02 crystallizes into the cubic NaZn 13 -type with two different Fe sites: Fe I (8b) and Fe II (96i), and that Al atoms preferentially occupy the Fe II site. A ferromagnetic state can be induced at a medial temperature of 39 K–139 K by an external magnetic field of 0.7 T, and a large lattice is correspondingly found at 100 K and 0.7 T. In all other conditions, La(Fe 11.4 Al 1.6 )C 0.02 has no net magnetization in the paramagnetic (T > T N = 182 K) or antifer- romagnetic states, and thus keeps its small lattice. Analysis of the Fe–Fe bond length indicates that the ferromagnetic state prefers longer Fe–Fe distances.
