Observation of spin-glass behavior in 1111-type magnetic semiconductor (La, Ba)(Zn, Mn)SbO

We report the successful fabrication of a new 1111-type bulk magnetic semiconductor (La,Ba)(Zn,Mn)SbO through the solid solution of (La,Ba) and (Zn,Mn) in the parent compound LaZnSbO. The polycrystalline samples (La,Ba)(Zn,Mn)SbO crystallize into ZrCuSiAs-type tetragonal structure, which has the same structure as iron-based superconductor LaFeAsO_1–δ. The DC magnetization measurements indicate the existence of spin-glass ordering, and the coercive field is up to ∼11500 Oe (1 Oe = 79.5775 A⋅m⁻¹). The AC magnetic susceptibility further determines that the samples evolve into a conventional spin-glass ordering state below the spin freezing temperature T_f. In addition, the negative magnetoresistance (MR ≡ ρ(H)–ρ(0)/ρ(0)) reaches −88% under 9 T.