Studies of the reentrant spin-glass behavior in Dy₂PdSi ₃

Unusual magnetic properties of non-magnetic atom disorder compound Dy ₂PdSi₃ have been investigated by ac susceptibility, dc magnetization, magnetic relaxation, specific heat and electrical resistivity measurements. The temperature dependences of ac susceptibility and dc magnetization show two maxima at T_N = 7.7 K and T_f ∼ 2.6 K, respectively. The first peak at T_N is attributed to a long-range antiferromagnetic ordering and the second one reveals the formation of a spin-glass state, which is also confirmed by the thermomagnetic irreversibility and long-time magnetic relaxation phenomenon observed at an applied magnetic field much larger than its coercive field. Moreover, the absence of any anomaly in both specific heat and electrical resistivity around T_f gives further evidence for the spin-glass state.