Abstract
We present a study of high-quality single crystals via magnetization, heat-capacity, thermal-expansion, and magnetostriction measurements. Sharp anomalies in the thermodynamic properties at reveal a long-range antiferromagnetic order in these single-crystalline samples, which is absent in polycrystalline . The temperature dependent magnetic susceptibilities for in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic fields are strongly anisotropic and reveal a pronounced easy-plane anisotropy. A Curie-Weiss analysis implies strong orbital magnetism, as it is known from the sister compound that is discussed as a potential Kitaev spin-liquid material. When applying in-plane magnetic fields at low temperature, is driven to another ordered phase at a critical field and then undergoes a further field-induced transition to a highly polarized paramagnetic phase at , which is again similar to the case of . In addition, our lowest-temperature data reveal that the field-induced transitions in become dominated by thermally assisted domain-wall motion.
- Received 30 September 2022
- Revised 20 December 2022
- Accepted 17 January 2023
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.7.024402
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