Complex magnetic couplings in Co3TeO6

Chin-Wei Wang, Chi-Hung Lee, Chi-Yen Li, Chun-Ming Wu, Wen-Hsien Li, Chih-Chieh Chou, Hung-Duen Yang, Jeffrey W. Lynn, Qingzhen Huang, A. Brooks Harris, and Helmuth Berger
Phys. Rev. B 88, 184427 – Published 26 November 2013

Abstract

We report powder and single-crystal neutron diffraction measurements, combined with x-ray powder diffraction data, to unravel the complex magnetic phase diagram and exchange coupling in Co3TeO6. The magnetic structures of the various phases differ markedly from those proposed by Ivanov et al. [Mater. Res. Bull. 47, 63 (2012)] on the basis of only powder diffraction data. The dominant exchange interactions are identified by considering the geometrical arrangement of severely distorted CoO6 octahedra and CoO4 tetrahedra, which naturally divide into two different types of layers, one of which consists of zigzag chains. These zigzag chains are the first to develop magnetic order at TM1 = 26 K, which is incommensurate in nature. The other separate layer of Co spins develops antiferromagnetic order of Γ4 symmetry at zero wave vector at TM2 = 19.5 K. Our results are consistent with the previous findings of a spontaneous polarization below TM3 = 18 K. Our neutron powder diffraction data indicate that the increase in the single-crystal (600) Bragg peak is due to a relief of extinction rather than to magnetic effects associated with the observed anomalous variation in the incommensurate wave vector at TM4 = 16 K. The commensurate order parameter is shown to have a small dependence on the applied electric field, whereas no such effect is found for the incommensurate ordering. Below TM3, the thermal expansion is negative, and it also exhibits anomalies at TM2 and TM4. A symmetry analysis and comprehensive phase diagram are given.

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  • Received 12 January 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.88.184427

©2013 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Chin-Wei Wang1, Chi-Hung Lee1, Chi-Yen Li1, Chun-Ming Wu1, Wen-Hsien Li1,*, Chih-Chieh Chou2, Hung-Duen Yang2, Jeffrey W. Lynn3, Qingzhen Huang3, A. Brooks Harris4, and Helmuth Berger5

  • 1Department of Physics and Center for Neutron Beam Applications, National Central University, Jhongli 32001, Taiwan
  • 2Department of Physics and Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan
  • 3NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
  • 4Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 190104, USA
  • 5Institute of Physics of Complex Matter, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland

  • *Corresponding author: whli@phy.ncu.edu.tw

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Issue

Vol. 88, Iss. 18 — 1 November 2013

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