Crystalline-electric-field excitations of a Pr-based antiferromagnet with competing interactions

Rare-earth based correlated materials often host competing interactions and electronic ground states associated with different degrees of freedom. We have examined a Pr-based antiferromagnet which has competing antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic interactions. Furthermore, we find that applying hydrostatic pressure induces a new low-temperature first-order transition, and it is of particular interest to determine its nature, and whether it corresponds to ordering of non-spin degrees of freedom. In order to understand the electronic ground state and magnetism of the system, it is necessary to probe the effects of crystalline-electric-fields (CEF) on the Pr-4f orbitals. We therefore propose to perform inelastic neutron scattering on powder samples using the MARI spectrometer, so as to probe the CEF excitations and determine the CEF level scheme and ground state 4f-wave function.