Abstract
We report a detailed muon-spin rotation study of the pressure evolution of the magnetic order in the manganese-based pnictide MnP, which has been recently found to undergo a superconducting transition under pressure once the magnetic ground state is suppressed. Using the muon as a volume sensitive local magnetic probe, we identify a ferromagnetic state as well as two incommensurate helical states (with propagation vectors aligned along the crystallographic and directions, respectively) which transform into each other through first-order phase transitions as a function of pressure and temperature. Our data suggest that the magnetic state from which superconductivity develops at higher pressures is an incommensurate helical phase.
- Received 10 March 2016
- Revised 9 May 2016
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.180509
©2016 American Physical Society