No Arabic abstract
A re-entrant novel phase has been observed in the hexagonal ferroelectric HoMnO3 in the presence of magnetic fields, in the temperature ranges defined by the plateau of the dielectric constant anomaly. The dielectric plateau evolves with fields from a narrow sharp dielectric peak at the Mn-spin rotation transition at 32.8 K in zero magnetic field. Such a field-induced dielectric plateau anomaly appears both in the temperature sweep at a constant field and in the field sweep at a constant temperature without detectable hysteresis. This is attributed to the indirect coupling between the ferroelectric and antiferromagnetic orders, arising from an antiferromagnetic domain wall effect, where the magnetic order parameter of the Mn subsystem has to change sign across the ferroelectric domain wall in the compound, that influences the ferroelectric domains via a local magnetostrictive effect.
The novel field-induced re-entrant phase in multiferroic hexagonal HoMnO3 is investigated to lower temperatures by dc magnetization, ac susceptibility, and specific heat measurements at various magnetic fields. Two new phases have been unambiguously identified below the Neel transition temperature, TN=76 K, for magnetic fields up to 50 kOe. The existence of an intermediate phase between the P[6]_3[c]m and P[6]_3c[m] magnetic structures (previously predicted from dielectric measurements) was confirmed and the magnetic properties of this phase have been investigated. At low temperatures (T<5 K) a dome shaped phase boundary characterized by a magnetization jump and a narrow heat capacity peak was detected between the magnetic fields of 5 kOe and 18 kOe. The transition across this phase boundary is of first order and the magnetization and entropy jumps obey the magnetic analogue of the Clausius-Clapeyron relation. Four of the five low-temperature phases coexist at a tetracritical point at 2 K and 18 kOe. The complex magnetic phase diagram so derived provides an informative basis for unraveling the underlying driving forces for the occurrence of the various phases and the coupling between the different orders.
Taking the pseudobinary C15-Laves phase compound Ce(Fe$_{0.96}$Al$_{0.04}$)$_2$ as a paradigm for studying a ferromagnetic(FM) to antiferromagnetic(AFM) phase transition, we present interesting thermomagnetic history effects in magnetotransport measurements across this FM-AFM transition. We argue that these distinctive hysteretic features can be used to identify the exact nature -first order or second order - of this kind of transition in magnetic systems where electrical transport is strongly correlated with the underlying magnetic order. A comparison is made with the similar FM-AFM transitions observed in Nd and Pr-based manganese compounds with perovskite-type structure.
Magneto-structural phase transitions in Ba1-xAxFe2As2 (A = K, Na) materials are discussed for both magnetically and orbitally driven mechanisms, using a symmetry analysis formulated within the Landau theory of phase transitions. Both mechanisms predict identical orthorhombic space-group symmetries for the nematic and magnetic phases observed over much of the phase diagram, but they predict different tetragonal space-group symmetries for the newly discovered re-entrant tetragonal phase in Ba1-xNaxFe2As2 (x ~ 0.24-0.28). In a magnetic scenario, magnetic order with moments along the c-axis, as found experimentally, does not allow any type of orbital order, but in an orbital scenario, we have determined two possible orbital patterns, specified by P4/mnc1 and I4221 space groups, which do not require atomic displacements relative to the parent I4/mmm1 symmetry and, in consequence, are indistinguishable in conventional diffraction experiments. We demonstrate that the three possible space groups are however, distinct in resonant X-ray Bragg diffraction patterns created by Templeton & Templeton scattering. This provides an experimental method of distinguishing between magnetic and orbital models.
Magnetic transition phenomena in cubic chiral antiferromagnet EuPtSi with $T_{rm N}$=4.0~K were investigated by means of single crystal neutron diffraction. At 0.3~K in the ground state, magnetic peaks emerge at positions represented by an ordering vector ${q}_{1}$=$(0.2, 0.3, 0)$ and its cyclic permutation. Upon heating, an additional magnetic peak splitting with hysteresis was uncovered at around $T^*_{rm N}{sim}$2.5~K, indicating the presence of a first-order commensurate-incommensurate transition with ${q}^*_{1}$=$(0.2, 0.3, {delta})$ (${delta}_{rm max}{simeq}$0.04) at $T^*_{rm N}$. A half-polarized neutron scattering experiment for polarization parallel to the scattering vector revealed that polarization antiparallel to the scattering vector has stronger intensity in both magnetic phases. This feature clarifies the single chiral character of the helical structure with moments lying perpendicular to the ordering vector in both ordered states. Under a vertical magnetic field of 1.2~T for ${B}{parallel}$[1,1,1] at 1.9~K entering into the so-called $A$ phase, magnetic peaks form characteristic hexagonal patterns in the equatorial scattering plane around nuclear peaks. An ordering vector ${q}_{A}{simeq}({pm}0.09, {pm}0.20, {mp}0.28)$ of the $A$-phase has similar periodic length as $q_{1}$, and could be the hallmark of a formation of skyrmion lattice in EuPtSi.
We present magnetic characterization of a binary rare-earth intermetallic compound Er5Si3, crystallizing in Mn5Si3-type hexagonal structure, through magnetization, heat-capacity, electrical resistivity, and magnetoresistance measurements. Our investigations confirm that the compound exhibits two magnetic transitions with decreasing temperature, first one at 35 K and the second one at 15 K. The present results reveal that the second magnetic transition is a disorder-broadened first-order transition, as shown by thermal hysteresis in the measured data. Another important finding is that, below 15 K, there is a magnetic-field-induced transition with a hysteretic effect with the electrical resistance getting unusually enhanced at this transition and the magnetorsistance (MR) is found to exhibit intriguing magnetic-field dependence indicating novel magnetic phase-co-existence phenomenon. It thus appears that this compound is characterized by interesting magnetic anomalies in the temperature-magnetic-field phase diagram.