No Arabic abstract
The metallic compound EuCo2P2 with the body-centered tetragonal ThCr2Si2 structure containing Eu spins 7/2 was previously shown from single-crystal neutron diffraction measurements to exhibit a helical antiferromagnetic (AFM) structure below TN = 66.5 K with the helix axis along the c axis and with the ordered moments aligned within the ab-plane. Here we report crystallography, electrical resistivity, heat capacity, magnetization and magnetic susceptibility measurements on single crystals of this compound. We demonstrate that EuCo2P2 is a model molecular-field helical Heisenberg antiferromagnet from comparisons of the anisotropic magnetic susceptibility chi, high-field magnetization and magnetic heat capacity of EuCo2P2 single crystals at temperature T < TN with the predictions of our recent formulation of molecular field theory. Values of the Heisenberg exchange interactions between the Eu spins are derived from the data. The low-T magnetic heat capacity ~ T^3 arising from spin-wave excitations with no anisotropy gap is calculated and found to be comparable to the lattice heat capacity. The density of states at the Fermi energy of EuCo2P2 and the related compound BaCo2P2 are found from the heat capacity data to be large, 10 and 16 states/eV per formula unit for EuCo2P2 and BaCo2P2, respectively. These values are enhanced by a factor of ~2.5 above those found from DFT electronic structure calculations for the two compounds. The calculations also find ferromagnetic Eu-Eu exchange interactions within the ab-plane and AFM interactions between nearest- and next-nearest planes, in agreement with the MFT analysis of chi{ab}(T < TN).
Recently Ding et al. [Phys. Rev. B 95, 184404 (2017)] reported that their nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) study on EuCo$_2$As$_2$ successfully characterized the antiferromagnetic (AFM) propagation vector of the incommensurate helix AFM state, showing that NMR is a unique tool for determination of the spin structures in incommensurate helical AFMs. Motivated by this work, we have carried out $^{153}$Eu, $^{31}$P and $^{59}$Co NMR measurements on the helical antiferromagnet EuCo$_2$P$_2$ with an AFM ordering temperature $T_{rm N}$ = 66.5 K. An incommensurate helical AFM structure was clearly confirmed by $^{153}$Eu and $^{31}$P NMR spectra on single crystalline EuCo$_2$P$_2$ in zero magnetic field at 1.6 K and its external magnetic field dependence. Furthermore, based on $^{59}$Co NMR data in both the paramagnetic and the incommensurate AFM states, we have determined the model-independent value of the AFM propagation vector k = (0, 0, 0.73 $pm$ 0.09)2$pi$/$c$ where $c$ is the $c$-axis lattice parameter. The temperature dependence of k is also discussed.
We have performed time-resolved resonant x-ray scattering studies in the Lanthanide metal Dy to reveal the dynamic response of the helical order exchange coupling to injection of unpolarized spins. The observed spin dynamics are significantly slower than that exhibited by the ferromagnetic phase in Lanthanide metals and are strongly dependent on temperature and excitation fluence. This unique behavior results from transient changes in the shape of the conduction electron Fermi surface and subsequent scattering events that transfer the excitation to the core spin.
We consider the spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on a bilayer honeycomb lattice including interlayer frustration in the presence of an external magnetic field. In the vicinity of the saturation field, we map the low-energy states of this quantum system onto the spatial configurations of hard hexagons on a honeycomb lattice. As a result, we can construct effective classical models (lattice-gas as well as Ising models) on the honeycomb lattice to calculate the properties of the frustrated quantum Heisenberg spin system in the low-temperature regime. We perform classical Monte Carlo simulations for a hard-hexagon model and adopt known results for an Ising model to discuss the finite-temperature order-disorder phase transition that is driven by a magnetic field at low temperatures. We also discuss an effective-model description around the ideal frustration case and find indications for a spin-flop like transition in the considered isotropic spin model.
In the search for spin-1/2 kagome antiferromagnets, the mineral volborthite has recently been the subject of experimental studies [Hiroi et al.,2001]. It has been suggested that the magnetic properties of this material are described by a spin-1/2 Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice with spatially anisotropic exchange couplings. We report on investigations of the Sp(N) symmetric generalisation of this model in the large N limit. We obtain a detailed description of the dependence of possible ground states on the anisotropy and on the spin length S. A fairly rich phase diagram with a ferrimagnetic phase, incommensurate phases with and without long range order and a decoupled chain phase emerges.
Cu(pz)2(ClO4)2 (with pz denoting pyrazine, C4H4N2) is among the best realizations of a two-dimensional spin-1/2 square-lattice antiferromagnet. Below T_N = 4.21 K, its weak interlayer couplings induce a 3D magnetic order, strongly influenced by external magnetic fields and/or hydrostatic pressure. Previous work, focusing on the [H, T] phase diagram, identified a spin-flop transition, resulting in a field-tunable bicritical point. However, the influence of external pressure has not been investigated yet. Here we explore the extended [p, H, T] phase diagram of Cu(pz)2(ClO4)2 under pressures up to 12 kbar and magnetic fields up to 7.1 T, via magnetometry and 35Cl nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements. The application of magnetic fields enhances T_XY , the crossover temperature from the Heisenberg to the XY model, thus pointing to an enhancement of the effective anisotropy. The applied pressure has an opposite effect [dT_N/dp = 0.050(8) K/kbar], as it modifies marginally the interlayer couplings, but likely changes more significantly the orbital reorientation and the square-lattice deformation. This results in a remodeling of the effective Hamiltonian, whereby the field and pressure effects compensate each other. Finally, by comparing the experimental data with numerical simulations we estimate T_BKT, the temperature of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless topological transition and argue why it is inaccessible in our case.