Suppression of Shastry-Sutherland phase driven by electronic concentration reduction in magnetically frustrated Ce$_2$Pd$_2$Sn$_{1-y}$In$_y$ alloys

Abstract

Shastry-Sutherland lattice was observed as alternative ground state in Rare Earth intermetallic with Mo$_2$B$_2$Fe and U$_2$Pt$_2$Sn anisotropic structures where magnetic frustration is favored. In the case of Ce$_2$Pd$_2$Sn, it was shown that such phase can be suppressed by the application of magnetic field and, in this work, its stability is studied as a function of the electronic concentration by doping the Sn(4+) lattice with In(3+) atoms. Magnetic and specific heat measurements show that around 50\% substitution the Shastry Sutherland lattice vanishes in a critical point. This result confirms the strong dependence of that phase on the electron density because a recent investigation on the Pd rich solid solution Ce$_{2+\epsilon}$Pd$_{2-\epsilon}$In$_{1-x}$Sn$_x$ (with $\epsilon < 0$) demonstrates that atomic disorder dominates the phase diagram at intermediate Sn/In concentration inhibiting magnetic frustration effects. In the alloys investigated in this work, the $\epsilon >0$ character stabilizes the ferromagnetic ground state all along the concentration, allowing the Shastry Sutherland lattice formation on the Sn rich side.