Crystal field effect and geometric frustration in Er2Ti2O7 —an XY antiferromagnetic pyrochlore

Magnetic susceptibility of powder Er₂Ti₂O₇ (ErT) is measured between 300 K and 80 K. shows a Curie-Weiss (CW) type behaviour with   ErTiO_3.5 and . A crystal field (CF) analysis of our experimental data, g-values (g_∥=0.27 and g_⊥=7.8) and the positions of two CF levels (reported earlier from an inelastic neutron scattering study) provide CF parameters and CF levels of the ground ⁴I_15/2 and excited multiplets of ErT. The theoretical follows a CW-type behaviour, with . Single-ion magnetic anisotropy (χ_⊥−χ_∥) is 9500×10⁻⁶ emu/mol ErTiO_3.5 at 300 K, which increases by ∼54 times at 10 K and ErT resembles an XY planar system. It can be inferred from CF analysis that the earlier observed change of from −13 K to −22 K below 50 K is not due to the CF effect. Nuclear hyperfine (HF) levels of ¹⁶⁷ErT and ¹⁶⁶ErT are calculated and the theoretical curve of vs. T (K) for T<T_N matches the observed results. Mössbauer lines expected for ¹⁶⁶ErT are also predicted.     

Effect of exchange-coupling interaction on anisotropy of grain in nanoscaled magnets

The effect of inter-grain exchange-coupling interaction on the anisotropy of grain in nanoscaled magnets has been investigated by putting forward an expression of anisotropy at grain boundary, , which is suitable for different coupling conditions, and expresses well the coherency between soft and hard grains. The average anisotropy of grain 〈K^ij〉 has been calculated based on and the theory of partial exchange-coupling interaction. It has been found that the average anisotropy of hard or soft grain, 〈K^hh〉 or 〈K^ss〉, increases with increasing grain size D monotonously when hard-hard or soft-soft grains couple. When soft-hard grains touch each other, with increasing D, the variation of average anisotropy of soft-hard grain 〈K〉 depends on the anisotropy at grain interface , which denotes the affection degree of hard grain on the anisotropy of soft grain. Compared with other results, it is more reasonable that ranges from to . The variations of anisotropy with D we calculated are consistent with those of coercivities given by other authors when is fixed in a certain range.     

Magnetic states and exchange interaction in hexagonal MnFeAs: A first principles study

The electronic structure and magnetic states for hexagonal-MnFeAs have been studied by a first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculation. The ground state is ferromagnetic and the calculated magnetic moments for Fe and Mn are 1.1 and 3.1μ_B, respectively, leading to a total magnetization of 4.1μ_B per formula unit due to the small negative moments of As atoms. The exchange interaction between Fe and Mn layers () is positive and tends to form the ferromagnetic ordering. On the other hand, the exchange interaction at the Fe-As₁ layer () is negative while that at the Mn-As₂ layer () is positive. The field induced first order magnetic transition at T_C is related to the competed exchange interaction in the compound.     

Room-temperature ferromagnetism in nanoparticles of superconducting materials

Nanoparticles of superconducting (YBCO) () exhibit ferromagnetism at room temperature while the bulk YBCO, obtained by heating the nanoparticles at high temperature (940 ^°C), shows a linear magnetization curve. Across the superconducting transition temperature, the magnetization curve changes from that of a soft ferromagnet to a superconductor. Furthermore, our experiments reveal that not only nanoparticles of metal oxides but also metal nitrides such as NbN () and δ-MoN () exhibit room-temperature ferromagnetism.     

Crystal structure and structural transition caused by charge-transfer phase transition for iron mixed-valence complex (n-C3H7)4N[FeFe(dto)3] (dto=C2O2S2)

(n-C₃H₇)₄N[Fe^IIFe^III(dto)₃] shows a new type of first order phase transition called charge-transfer phase transition around 120 K, where the charge transfer between Fe^II and Fe^III occurs reversibly. Recently, we have succeeded in obtaining single crystals of the title complex and determined the crystal structure at room temperature. Crystal data: space group P6₃, Z=2. Moreover, we have investigated the structural transition caused by the charge-transfer phase transition by means of powder X-ray diffraction measurement. When the temperature is decreased, the a-axis, which corresponds to the hexagonal ring size in two-dimensional honeycomb network structure of [Fe^IIFe^III(dto)₃]_∞, contracts by 0.1 Å at the charge-transfer transition temperature (T_CT), while the c-axis, perpendicular to the honeycomb network layer, elongates by 0.1 Å at T_CT. Consequently, when the temperature is decreased, the unit cell volume decreases without noticeable anomaly around T_CT, which is responsible for the quite small vibrational contribution to the entropy change, compared with usual spin crossover transition. Thus, the charge-transfer phase transition around 120 K for (n-C₃H₇)₄N[Fe^IIFe^III(dto)₃] is regarded as spin entropy driven phase transition.     

Anomalous thermostat and intraband discrete breathers

We investigate the dynamics of a macroscopic system which consists of an anharmonic subsystem embedded in an arbitrary harmonic lattice, including quenched disorder. The coupling between both parts is bilinear. Elimination of the harmonic degrees of freedom leads to a nonlinear Langevin equation with memory kernels and noise term for the anharmonic coordinates . For zero temperature, i.e. for , we prove that the support of the Fourier transform of and of the time averaged velocity-velocity correlation functions of the anharmonic system cannot overlap. As a consequence, the asymptotic solutions can be constant, periodic, quasiperiodic or almost periodic, and possibly weakly chaotic. For a sinusoidal trajectory with frequency we find that the energy E_T transferred to the harmonic system up to time T is proportional to T^α. If equals one of the phonon frequencies ω_ν, it is α=2. We prove that there is a zero measure set L such that for in its full measure complement R?L, it is α=0, i.e. there is no energy dissipation. Under certain conditions L contains a subset L^′ such that for the dissipation rate is nonzero and may be subdissipative (0≤α<1) or superdissipative (1<α≤2), compared to ordinary dissipation (α=1). Consequently, the harmonic bath does act as an anomalous thermostat, in variance with the common belief that elimination of a macroscopically large number of degrees of freedom always generates dissipation, forcing convergence to equilibrium. Intraband discrete breathers are such solutions which do not relax. We prove for arbitrary anharmonicity and small but finite coupling that intraband discrete breathers with frequency exist for all in a Cantor set C(k) of finite Lebesgue measure. This is achieved by estimating the contribution of small denominators appearing for , related to . For the small denominators do not lead to divergencies such that is a smooth and bounded function in t.     

Specific heat of EuIn2P2 at high magnetic fields

We have carried out specific heat measurements on EuIn₂P₂ at high magnetic fields perpendicular to the c-axis in the hexagonal crystal structure in order to understand its thermal properties. The temperature dependence of the specific heat exhibits a clear λ-type anomaly due to a magnetic transition at , indicating that the magnetic transition is of second-order. The λ-type anomaly becomes markedly broader with increasing the magnetic field. This remarkable field-dependence is consistent with the results of previous magnetization measurements which suggest that Eu²⁺ magnetic moments align ferromagnetically perpendicular to the c-axis below T_C. In addition, a hump in the specific heat is observed around 7 K, which can be ascribed to the Zeeman splitting of the Eu²⁺ multiplet by internal magnetic fields.     

Room temperature stable structures and phase transition of Na2Al2B2O7

By Rietveld refinement of the X-ray diffraction (XRD) data of powdered Na₂Al₂B₂O₇ samples aged for over 3 months, we found that Na₂Al₂B₂O₇ at room temperature is a mixture of two phases with space group and P6₃/m, respectively. The structures of the two phases can be refined with identical cell parameters of a=4.80760(11) Å, c=15.2684(5) Å and are composed by [Al₂B₂O₇]²⁻_∝ double layers stacking alternatively with Na⁺ ions along the c-direction, but differ at in-plane bond orientations of the BO₃/AlO₄ groups within the double layers: in P6₃/m phase B-O₁/Al-O₁ bonds of the two layers are perfectly aligned, whereas in phase they are twisted by 46.4/41.6° around c-axis against each other. It is also found that a freshly prepared sample contains only the phase, but part of the phase will transfer to P6₃/m phase slowly at room temperature and the transition can be reversed by heating the aged sample above 220 °C.     

Fe monolayers on InAs(0 0 1): An in situ study of surface, interface and volume magnetic anisotropy

The magnetic anisotropy of epitaxial Fe films with thicknesses in the range of 2-142 monolayers (ML) grown on {4×2} reconstructed InAs(0 0 1) was investigated by in situ ferromagnetic resonance. The easy magnetization direction was found to be parallel to the -direction for Fe films below 4 ML, while it rotates by 45^° toward the -direction. It is observed that both surface-interface and volume contribution to the perpendicular anisotropy favor an easy axis perpendicular to the film plane. The cubic surface-interface anisotropy is relatively large with easy axes along -directions in contrast to the volume contribution which favors easy axes along the -directions. The volume contribution is found to be larger than the Fe bulk cubic anisotropy. A thickness independent uniaxial anisotropy has been found in films with a thickness of 2 up to 142 ML.