Spin glass and glass-like lattice behaviour in HoB₆₆at low temperatures

The low-temperature specific heat, magnetic susceptibility, and thermal expansion are studied experimentally in the fcc boride HoB66 and compared to similar quantities in non-magnetic LuB66. The anomalous behaviour observed in HoB66 is explained within a glass-like picture together with magnetic subsystem ordering processes. The character of the observed anomalies suggests the existence of a spin-glass phase transition in HoB66 below a characteristic temperature of T s ≈ 0.98 K.