Ground state of the quasi-1D compound BaVS3 resolved by resonant magnetic x-ray scattering

Resonant magnetic x-ray scattering near the vanadium L2,3-absorption edges has been used to investigate the low temperature magnetic structure of high quality BaVS3 single crystals. Below T(N)=31 K, the strong resonance revealed a triple-incommensurate magnetic ordering at the wave vector (0.226 0.226 ξ) in hexagonal notation, with ξ=0.033. The azimuthal-angle dependence of the scattering signal and time-dependent density functional theory simulations indicate an antiferromagnetic order within the ab plane with the spins polarized along a in the monoclinic structure.