Abstract
Ultrasound and magnetization studies of bond-frustrated spinel are performed in static magnetic fields up to 18 T and in pulsed fields up to 62 T. At temperatures below the antiferromagnetic transition at , the sound velocity as a function of the magnetic field reveals a sequence of steps followed by plateaus indicating a succession of crystallographic structures with constant stiffness. At the same time, the magnetization evolves continuously with a field up to full magnetic polarization without any plateaus in contrast to geometrically frustrated chromium oxide spinels. The observed high-field magnetostructural states are discussed within a phase diagram taking into account the field and temperature evolution of three coexisting spin structures and subsequent lattice transformations induced by the magnetic field.
- Received 15 April 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.247202
© 2011 American Physical Society