Browsing by Author "Mohammed, MH"

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    Non-zero spontaneous magnetic moment along crystalline b-axis for rare earth orthoferrites
    (AIP Publishing, 2020-03-20) Mohammed, MH; Cheng, ZX; Cao, SX; Rule, KC; Richardson, C; Edwards, AJ; Studer, AJ; Horvat, J
    Rare earth orthoferrites demonstrate great application potentials in spintronics and optical devices due to their multiferroic and magnetooptical properties. In RFeO3, magnetic R3+ undergo a spontaneous spin reorientation in a temperature range determined by R (rare earth), where the magnetic structure changes from Γ2 to Γ4. The b-axis component of their magnetic moment, Mb, is reported in numerous neutron diffraction studies to remain zero at all temperatures. More sensitive magnetometer measurements reveal a small non-zero Mb, which is minute above ∼200 K. Mb increases with cooling and reaches values of ∼10–3 μB/f.u. at temperatures within or below the spin reorientation temperatures. Our results can be explained by assuming the Fe3+ spins as the origin of non-zero Mb, while R3+ spins suppress Mb. The representation analysis of point groups shows that non-zero Mb is associated with a small admixture of the Γ3 phase to Γ2 or Γ4. Such a mixing of the three magnetic phases requires at least a fourth order of the spin Hamiltonian for RFeO3 to describe the non-zero Mb. © 2020 Author(s).