Spin dynamics in the reentrant spin glass ( Fe0.65 Ni0.35)1-x Mnx

The spin dynamics in the reentrant spin glass ( Fe_0.65 Ni_0.35)_1-x Mn_x has been studied by zero, longitudinal and transverse field μSR. In the ferromagnetic reentrant and pure spin glass regimes (x\leqslant 0.175), zero field experiments reveal a stretched exponential muon relaxation with a universal behaviour of the dynamic exponent \beta above the spin glass transition. There are no qualitative differences between the ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases. In transversal field μSR experiments the divergence of the relaxation rate close to the spin glass transition is suppressed for manganese doping up to x=0.113 but enhanced for slightly higher doping (x\geqslant 0.12). We understand this behaviour as a crossover from an itinerant to a more localized state of the 3d electron system. This is also supported by the fact that in the highly doped regime with dominant antiferromagnetic interactions the muon relaxation rate diverges above the antiferromagnetic transition temperature. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Mössbauer studies in reentrant spin glass (Pd x Pt1−x )3Fe

Mössbauer and Magnetization studies in the reentrant spin glass regime of the series (Pd_x Pt_1–x)₃ Fe clarifies some aspects of the multiple magnetic phase transitions. The data presented refute the presence of a long range ferromagnetic order at temperatures between the spin glass and the paramagnetic states. The ferromagnetic-like response can arise from the presence of magnetic clusters.     

The fragile magnetic structures of Fe/CeH2−δ multilayers

Fe/CeH_2−δ multilayers exhibit at room temperature evidence of interlayer exchange coupling. Subsequent Fe layers are either parallel or antiparallel to each other, depending on the Fe and CeH_2−δ layer thickness. However, when both layers have thickness larger than 15 Å, the antiferromagnetic structure becomes fragmented into domains laterally limited to a few microns, and the magnetic structures become very fragile. Small magnetic fields of a few Oersteds acting on the samples during growth induce helimagnetic configurations which coexist with antiferromagnetic coupling. The magnetic structures can be permanently destroyed by applying magnetic fields larger than 150 Oe.     

Investigations of the sublattice magnetizations M(T) in antiferromagnets with fourth-order exchange interactions: EuSrTe

We present a neutron scattering study of the temperature and composition dependence of the MnO-type superstructure reflection intensities in the diamagnetically diluted antiferromagnetic compounds Eu_xSr_1-xTe. In these materials antiferromagnetic biquadratic and ferromagnetic three-spin interactions have been identified recently. These fourth-order non-Heisenberg interactions are able to create their own order parameter which is believed to govern the order of the transverse moment components and which, hence, is directed perpendicular to the common Heisenberg order parameter. The observed MnO-type diffraction intensities originate in the sublattice magnetizations, , of both order parameters. Due to the different composition dependencies for biquadratic interaction processes and three-spin interaction processes , the ferromagnetic three-spin interactions dominate for x > x c =0.85, while for x <0.85 the antiferromagnetic biquadratic interactions dominate. Associated with this sign change in the fourth-order interaction sum the transverse order parameter changes from the antiferromagnetic MnO type for x <0.85 to ferromagnetic for x >0.85. This is noticed as a sudden decrease of the low-temperature MnO scattering intensities at x c =0.85. Although susceptibility measurements reveal clearly a ferromagnetic component for x >0.85 no ferromagnetic Bragg intensities were observed in standard neutron scattering spectra using EuTe powder samples. We explain this by the competition of antiferromagnetic biquadratic and ferromagnetic three-spin interactions whereby a disturbed ferromagnetic superstructure may be generated which gives rise also to weak MnO-type diffraction lines. It is found that the resulting obeys a T² law until a temperature as large as 0.75T_N irrespective of the nature of the transverse order parameter. The T² law must, hence, be common to both types of order parameter showing that the fourth-order interactions re-define the spin dynamics of both completely. From the linear composition dependence of the normalized T² coefficient the existence of three-spin interactions is again confirmed. Received 23 July 1998 and Received in final form 12 October 1998     

Quantum HeisenbergS=1/2 spin glass with ferromagnetic coupling and random Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions

By means of the generalized static replica symmetric spin glass theory, a quantum HeisenbergS=1/2 spin glass model with the infinite-ranged random Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction and ferromagnetic coupling is investigated. The dependence of entropy, specific heat, susceptibility and the corresponding order parameters on temperature is studied numerically for different ferromagnetic interactions and fixed anisotropy. Two spin glass phases has been found including transverse and mixed spin glass phases. It has been shown that the local susceptibility exhibits double-cusp features for different ferromagnetic coupling (J ₀). Phase transition poins are found in the specific heat-temperature plane at various ferromagnetic coupling values. Additionally, the dependence of the spontaneous moment on temperature is calculated.     

A μSR-study of UP and UTe

The materials crystallize in the NaCl structure. UP undergoes at 122 K a first order transition into a type I single-k antiferromagnetic state, followed by a second first order transition into a type I double-k-structure at 22 K. UTe is a ferromagnet withT _c =104 K. The two first order transitions of UP reveal themselves by abrupt changes of the transverse field damping rate. No spin rotation is observed in zero field for both antiferromagnetic spin structures which is in keeping with point dipolar lattice sums. In UTe we observe the characteristic critical behavior: a rapid increase of damping rate and paramagnetic frequency shift when approachingT _c from above. In the ferromagnetic regime the spin rotation in zero field damps out too rapidly to be observed. This work has been funded in part by the German Federal Minister for Research and Technology (BMFT) under contract Nr. 03-KA1-TUM-4.     

Size-induced ferromagnetism and metallicity in Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 nanoparticles: A neutron diffraction study

The phenomenon of destabilization of antiferromagnetic insulating state into a ferromagnetic metallic one in Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ with the variation of particle/grain size is critically investigated. Based on our neutron diffraction study, magnetic and transport experiments, we observe ferromagnetism and metallic behavior in Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ (∼40 nm grain size) as against A-type antiferromagnetic order in the sample with the largest grain size (∼800 nm). The latter shows a systematic change in the lattice parameters with temperature, and an antiferromagnetic ground state similar to that of a bulk system. Interestingly, the sample with the smallest grain sizes exhibits insignificant structural changes (compared to the largest grain size sample) but a complete change in the magnetic state (ferromagnetic behavior) as revealed from the neutron diffraction study. Magnetic measurements also confirm a ferromagnetic state in the small-grained sample. Electronic transport measurements exhibit a metal-insulator transition in this sample. The effects are primarily attributed to enhanced surface disorder.     

Phase diagrams and magnetic properties of diluted Ising and Heisenberg magnets with competing interactions

Ising and Heisenberg magnets with nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic exchangeJ ₁ and next-nearest antiferromagnetic exchangeJ ₂ and randomly distributed frozen-in nonmagnetic impurities of arbitrary concentration 1–x are studied by several methods: systematic series expansions inx, 1–x and inverse temperature (1/T) as well as Monte Carlo simulation. Depending onRJ ₂/J ₁,T andx the model is in paramagnetic, ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic or spin glass phases. The microscopic magnetic structures of all these phases are investigated and found to be more complicated than usually (e.g., the ferromagnetic state contains spins and clusters either aligned antiparallel or not aligned at all, when frustration effects make bonds ineffective). We suggest that the concentrationx _c of magnetic ions below which no (anti-)ferromagnetic long range order occurs depends onR continuously, andx _c 1 at the multicritical point (R _m ,T=0) where the order changes from ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic. Our results for phase diagram, susceptibility etc. are compared to recent data on the Eu _x Sr_1–x S system and very good agreement is found.     

Reentrant spin glass behavior in Cr-doped perovskite manganite

The magnetic and transport properties of the Cr-doped manganites La(0.46)Sr(0.54)Mn(1-y)Cr(y)O3 ( 0 < or = y < or = 0.08) with the A-type antiferromagnetic structure were investigated. Upon cooling, we find multiple magnetic phase transitions, i.e., paramagnetic, ferromagnetic (FM), antiferromagnetic (AFM), and spin glass in the y = 0.02 sample. The low temperature spin glass state is not a conventional spin glass with randomly oriented magnetic moments but has a reentrant character. The reentrant spin glass behavior accompanied by the anomalous multiple magnetic transitions might be due to the competing interactions between the FM phase and the A-type AFM matrix induced by the random Cr impurity.     

Magnetoelectricity in multiferroically composed multilayers and multiglasses

Single-crystalline magnetoelectric (ME) antiferromagnetic Cr₂O₃ exchange coupled to a ferromagnetic multilayer (Pt/Co/Pt)_n, n?1, represents a multiphase multiferroic material with sophisticated multifunctional properties. They comprise the possibility of switching the exchange bias (EB) of the ferromagnetic hysteresis loop via the linear ME effect of Cr₂O₃, and to design MERAM and logic cells operating at room temperature. Quadratic and cubic ME effects - promoted by soft-mode quantum fluctuations - are observed at lowest order in ceramic Sr_0.98Mn_0.02TiO₃ at low temperatures. Dipolar and spin glass orders occur simultaneously on the Mn²⁺ subsystem and form a multiglass by analogy with conventional multiferroics.     

The temperature evolution of the magnetic correlations in pure and diluted spin ice Ho2−xYxTi2O7

Diffuse polarized neutron scattering studies have been carried out on single crystals of pyrochlore spin ice Ho_2−xY_xTi₂O₇ (x=0, 0.3, and 1) to investigate the effects of doping and anisotropy on spin correlations in the system. The crystals were aligned with the (1 −1 0) orientation coincident with the direction of neutron polarization. For all the samples studied the spin flip (SF) diffuse scattering (i.e. the in-plane component) reveals that the spin correlations can be described using a nearest-neighbour spin ice model (NNSM) at higher temperatures (T=3.6 K) and a dipolar spin ice model (DSM) as the temperature is reduced (T=30 mK). In the non-spin flip (NSF) channel (i.e. the out-of-plane component), the signature of strong antiferromagnetic correlations is observed for all the samples at the same temperature as the dipolar spin ice behaviour appears in the SF channel. Our studies show that the non-magnetic dopant Y does not significantly alter SF or NSF scattering for the spin ice state, even when Y doping is as high as 50%. In this paper, we focus on the experimental results of the highly doped spin ice HoYTi₂O₇ and compare our results with pure spin ice Ho₂Ti₂O₇. The crossover from a dipolar to a nearest-neighbour spin ice behaviour and the doping insensitivity in spin ices are briefly discussed.     

Magnetic phase diagram of EuSySe1−y and EuSe under hydrostatic pressure

AC-susceptibility measurements of samples EuS_ySe_1?y and EuSe with applied hydrostatic pressure up to 15 kbar are reported and the magnetic phase diagrams of both systems are compared. Special attention is given to the range where the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic exchange interactions just compensate. Whereas in EuSe with applied pressure antiferromagnetic or ferromagnetic ordering is observed up to very close to the critical point J₁=-J₂, a spin glass phase occurs in EuS_ySe_1?y at the corresponding concentration.     

Pressure-induced weak moment in the two-dimensional antiferromagnet (C2H5NH3)2CuCl4

Abstract

The two-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet (C₂H₅NH₃)₂CuCl₄ has the ferromagnetic intralayer exchange interaction, while the extremely weak interlayer exchange interaction is antiferromagnetic. Neutron scattering experiments under high pressures have been performed on this compound. We confirm that the spin structure changes around 1～2 GPa from the collinear alignment along the a-axis to a spin-canting one. The weak moment due to the canting is parallel to the c-axis. The results indicate that the ferromagnetic intralayer and the antiferromagnetic interlayer exchange interactions are maintained up to 1～2 GPa. Why the weak ferromagnetic moment along the c-axis occurs is due to a lowering of crystal symmetry by pressure.     

Possible Topological Hall Effect in a Spin Gapless Semiconducting Mn2CoAl Heusler Compound

Topological Hall effect (THE), induced by the interaction of charge carriers with mesoscopic or microscopic noncoplanar spin structures, holds promising applications in the field of spintronics. In the present study, a giant THE of about 2 μΩ cm at room temperature is reported in a bulk spin gapless semiconducting Mn₂CoAl cubic Heusler compound. Temperature-dependent investigation of magneto-transport data reveals that the Mn₂CoAl has the large THE over a wide temperature range of 2–300 K. The alternating current (AC) susceptibility as a function of magnetic field exhibits a smooth and continuous response rather than any kink or anomaly, suggests that the observed THE in the Mn₂CoAl compound results from the interaction of charge carriers with the microscopic noncoplanar spin texture. The observed THE as a function of temperature follows the same behavior as the magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MCA) of the cubic Mn₂CoAl, indicating the competition of the MCA with ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic exchange interactions as the origin of the noncoplanar spin texture and hence THE. Micromagnetic simulations further support the emergence of noncoplanar spin structure as a result of the competition between different energies.     

Ab-initio study of competing magnetic configurations in cubic BiFeO3 alloys

Using ab-initio calculations, we study the properties of the multiferroic BiFeO₃ compounds in the perfect cubic perovskite lattice structure. We show that the appearance of magnetism is energetically favorable. Except the ferromagnetic structure, there are three possible antiferromagnetic arrangements, which are close in energy, and for large values of the lattice constant a G-type antiferromagnetism is the most stable magnetic order. Fe atoms are responsible for the spin magnetic moments while the values of the induced spin moments at the other sites depend strongly on the local environment of the atoms. There is a significant charge transfer from the Fe and Bi atoms towards the p-states of O atoms.     

Antiferromagnetic spin correlations in palladium-based Pd-Fe, Pd-Fe-Ag, and Pd-Fe-Rh magnetic alloys

The magnetic structure of Pd_1?x Fe_x (x=0.03, 0.06, 0.10, 0.15, and 0.20) alloys is investigated using the method of ⁵⁷Fe-Mössbauer spectroscopy. The distribution functions P(B _hf) of hyperfine magnetic fields have a discrete structure defined by variations of the contribution to B _hf from the magnetic moment of the neighboring Fe atoms. The anomalies of intensities of components of the functions P(B _hf), which increase with the concentration of iron, are indicative of the instability of configurations with a large total spin and of the formation of local spin configurations with the antiferromagnetic orientation of magnetic moments. The probability of formation of such configurations is defined by the competition of the ferromagnetic Fe-Pd exchange interaction with the direct antiferromagnetic exchange between the nearest neighboring atoms of Fe. An Ag or Rh impurity effectively induces the process of spin flipping, which explains the anomalously strong effect of impurities on the magnetic ordering temperature. The results confirm the presence in Pd-Fe alloys of perturbations of long-range ferromagnetic order revealed by neutron diffraction.     

Structural and magnetic properties of Fe doped NiO

Mott-Hubbard anti-ferromagnetic insulator, NiO shows p-type semiconducting behaviour due to vacancy at Ni²⁺ site in its bunsenite structure. We report the modification of structural and magnetic order in NiO on Fe doping. NiO samples at different Fe concentrations in the range 0 to 5 at.% have been prepared by chemical co-precipitation and post thermal decomposition method. Both structural and magnetic characterization reveal that with increasing Fe doping concentration, NiO evolves as a magnetically inhomogeneous state out of the parent homogeneous antiferromagnetic state. In addition, structural inhomogeneity was also observed with Fe precipitating to γ-Fe₂O₃ phase, the signature of which could be clearly seen for Fe content beyond 2 at.%. At lower Fe content however, some amount of Fe occupies lattice and interstitial sites in the NiO matrix and drive the latter to acquire ferromagnetic ordering, which was evident from a clear hysteresis loop at 300 K.      

Magnetic behaviour of Cu2FeGeSe4

Measurements of magnetic susceptibility χ as a function of temperature T and of magnetisation M as a function of applied magnetic field H at a number of fixed temperatures were made on polycrystalline samples of Cu₂FeGeSe₄. The χ versus T data show that an antiferromagnetic transition occurs at 20 K and that a second transition occurs at 8 K, indicating a transition to weak ferromagnetic form. The M versus H curves indicated that at all temperatures below 70 K bound magnetic polarons (BMP) occur, in the paramagnetic, antiferromagnetic and weak ferromagnetic ranges. Below 8 K, the M versus H curves exhibited magnetic hysteresis, and this is attributed to the interaction of the BMPs with tetragonally anisotropic matrix. The B versus H curves were well fitted by a Langevin-type of equation, and the variation of the fitting parameters determined as a function of temperature. These showed that above 20 K the total BMP magnetisation fell almost linearly with increasing temperature and effectively disappeared at 70 K. The number of BMPs remained practically constant with temperature having a mean value of 6.55×10¹⁸/cm³. The analysis gave a value of 213 μ_B for the average magnetic moment of a BMP, corresponding to 42.4 Fe atoms. Using a simple spherical model, this gives the radius of a BMP as 12.0 Å.     

Magnetic order in CaMn2Sb2 studied via powder neutron diffraction

This paper reports a neutron powder diffraction study of CaMn₂Sb₂ in the temperature range of 20–300 K. Collinear long-range antiferromagnetic order of manganese ions occurs below 85 K, where a transition is observed in the dc magnetic susceptibility measured with a single crystal. Short-range magnetic order, characterized by a broad diffraction peak corresponding to a d-spacing of approximately 4 Å (2θ≈22°), is also observed above 20 K. The long-range antiferromagnetic order is indexed by the chemical unit cell, indicating a propagation vector k=(0 0 0), with a refined magnetic moment of 3.38 μ_B at 20 K. Two possible magnetic models have been identified, which differ in spin orientation for the two manganese ions with respect to the ab plane. The model with spins oriented at a 25±2° angle relative to the ab plane gives an improved fit compared to the other model in which the spins are constrained to the ab plane. Representational analysis can account for a model involving a c-axis component only by the mixing of two irreducible representations.     

Exchange bias in structure-phase separated K0.8Fe2−xNixSe2 (x=0.015) single crystal: Interface evidence

Exchange bias behavior is observed in Ni slightly doped K_0.8Fe_2−xNi_xSe₂ (x=0.015) single crystal. Two distinguished phases with epitaxial growth were observed in X-ray diffraction experiments, indicating the structure phase separation in our samples. The magnetic hysteresis loop shifts in both horizontal and vertical directions when the sample was cooled down to 3 K in a magnetic field. The nature of this magnetic anisotropy could be understood as a result of the freezing properties of the local spin disorders in cluster like spin-glass system. Our results suggest that the sample contains short range weak ferromagnetic clusters (phase 2) embedding in the antiferromagnetic backgrounds (phase 1), in which the random distribution of Ni on Fe or Fe-vacancy sites quenched the superconductivity and induced spin disorders.