Correlation between the negative magnetoresistance effect and magnon excitations in single-crystalline CuCr1.6V0.4Se4

Structural, electrical and magnetic measurements, as well as electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra, were used to characterise the single-crystalline CuCr1.6V0.4Se4 spinel and study the correlation between the negative magnetoresistance effect and magnon excitations. We established the ferromagnetic order below the Curie temperature TC approximate to 193 K, a p-type semiconducting behaviour, the ESR change from paramagnetic to ferromagnetic resonance at T-C, a large ESR linewidth value and its temperature dependence in the paramagnetic region. Electrical studies revealed negative magnetoresistance, which can be enhanced with increasing magnetic field and decreasing temperature, while a detailed thermopower analysis showed magnon excitations at low temperatures. Spin-phonon coupling is explained within the framework of a complex model of paramagnetic relaxation processes as a several-stage relaxation process in which the V3+ ions, the exchange subsystem and conduction electron subsystem act as the intermediate reservoirs.