Structural, Magnetic and Vibrational Properties of Van Der Waals Ferromagnet CrBr(3) at High Pressure

The crystal and magnetic structures of van der Waals layered ferromagnet Cr [Formula: see text] were studied using X-ray powder diffraction and neutron powder diffraction at pressures up to 23 GPa at ambient temperature and up to 2.8 GPa in the temperature range 6–300 K, respectively. The vibration spectra of Cr [Formula: see text] were studied using Raman spectroscopy at pressures up to 23 GPa at ambient temperature. The anomalous pressure behavior of structural parameters and vibrational modes was observed, associated with a gradual isostructural phase transition in the pressure range 2.5–7 GPa. The Curie temperature T(C) reduced rapidly with a pressure coefficient [Formula: see text] K/GPa. A full suppression of the ferromagnetic state was expected at P(C)~8.4 GPa, where onset of the antiferromagnetic spin arrangement or magnetically disordered state may take place. Anomalies in Raman spectra at P~15 GPa point to another possible phase transformation in Cr [Formula: see text] , which may be related to the proximity of metallization of this van der Waals ferromagnet.