Spin-reorientation in DyGa

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Date
2014-02-05
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Publisher
Australian Institute of Physics
Abstract
The RGa compounds crystallize in the orthorhombic CrB-type structure (Cmcm space-group), which can be viewed as a stacking of trigonal prisms along the crystallographic a-axis with rare earth atoms at the corners and the gallium atoms nearly at the centres. They order ferromagnetically with a Curie temperature ranging from a high of ~187 K in GdGa to a low of 15 K for TmGa. DyGa is a ferromagnet with a Curie temperature (TC) of 115(2) K. Based on single-crystal susceptibility measurements by Shohata, the easy direction of magnetic order was found to be along the c-axis. Recently, Zhang et al. reported a weak shoulder at ~25 K in their magnetization data, which might correspond to a spin-reorientation . In this report, we present our neutron diffraction results to investigate the magnetic ordering of DyGa. Despite the substantial neutron absorption by the Dy (50 at.% of the sample), refinement of our neutron diffraction patterns confirms the c-axis order below TC. Furthermore, upon cooling below 25 K we observe a canting of the Dy moments away from the c-axis towards the a-axis. At 3 K, the Dy moment is 9.8(2) µB and the Dy magnetic moments point in the direction θ = 22(2)° with respect to the crystallographic c-axis.
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Keywords
Coherent scattering, Crystal lattices, Crystal structure, Diffraction, Elements, Magnetism, Metals, Orientation, Physical properties, Rare earths, Scattering, Thermodynamic properties, Three-dimensional lattices, Transition temperature
Citation
Susilo, R. A., Cadogan, J. M., Cobas, R., Munoz-Perez, S. & Avdeev, M. (2014). Spin-reorientation in DyGa. Poster presented at the 38th Annual Condensed Matter and Materials Meeting 2014, Waiheke Island Resort, Waiheke, Auckland, New Zealand, 4th February - 7th February, 2014. Retrieved from: https://physics.org.au/wp-content/uploads/cmm/2014/Wagga2014proceedings.pdf