Phase transition, crystal structure, and magnetic order in VOCl

Andreas Schönleber, Joachim Angelkort, Sander van Smaalen, Lukáš Palatinus, Anatoliy Senyshyn, and Wolfgang Morgenroth
Phys. Rev. B 80, 064426 – Published 31 August 2009

Abstract

VOCl develops magnetic order below TN=80.3(3)K. Employing single-crystal x-ray diffraction and powder neutron diffraction it is shown that the magnetic phase transition is accompanied by a small, temperature-dependent monoclinic lattice distortion with γ=90.212(2)° at T=3.2K. The phase transition presumably is of second order with a critical exponent β=0.099(12). The monoclinic distortion lifts the frustration of interchain interactions along 12a±12b of the orthorhombic room-temperature structure with the result that chains of antiferromagnetic order exist along 12a+12b while ferromagnetic chains exist along 12a12b. Both antiferromagnetic interchain coupling (if stronger along 12a+12b than along 12a12b) and ferromagnetic interchain coupling (if stronger along 12a12b than along 12a+12b) can explain the observed magnetic superstructure with magnetic space group F2/d on the 2a×2b×2c supercell (standard setting C2/c) and with magnetic moments parallel to a. Remarkably, the lattice distortion is not accompanied by a structural distortion so that the driving force for the lattice distortion is completely governed by the magnetic interactions.

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  • Received 3 April 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.80.064426

©2009 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Andreas Schönleber1, Joachim Angelkort1, Sander van Smaalen1,*, Lukáš Palatinus2, Anatoliy Senyshyn3,†, and Wolfgang Morgenroth4,‡

  • 1Laboratory of Crystallography, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
  • 2Laboratory of Crystallography, EPF Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
  • 3FRM II-TUM, 85747 Garching, Germany
  • 4Laboratoy of Earth Science, University of Frankfurt, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

  • *smash@uni-bayreuth.de
  • Present address: Department of Material Science, Technical University of Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany.
  • Present address: HASYLAB at DESY, 22603 Hamburg, Germany.

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Issue

Vol. 80, Iss. 6 — 1 August 2009

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