No Arabic abstract
We have grown single crystals of YbFe6Ge6 and LuFe6Ge6 and characterized their anisotropic behaviour through low field magnetic susceptibility, field-dependent magnetization, resistivity and heat capacity measurements. The Yb+3 valency is confirmed by LIII XANES measurements. YbFe6Ge6 crystals exhibit a field-dependent, sudden reorientation of the Fe spins at about 63 K, a unique effect in the RFe6Ge6 family (R = rare earths) where the Fe ions order anti-ferromagnetically with Neel temperatures above 450 K and the R ions magnetism appears to behave independently. The possible origins of this unusual behaviour of the ordered Fe moments in this compound are discussed.
The magnetic structure of the nonmetallic metal FeCrAs, a compound with the characters of both metals and insulators, was examined as a function of temperature using single-crystal neutron diffraction. The magnetic propagation vector was found to be $mathit{k}$ = (1/3, 1/3, 0), and the magnetic reflections disppeared above $mathit{T_{N}}$ = 116(1) K. In the ground state, the Cr sublattice shows an in-plane spiral antiferromagnetic order. The moment sizes of the Cr ions were found to be small, due to strong magnetic frustration in the distorted Kagome lattice or the itinerant nature of the Cr magnetism, and vary between 0.8 and 1.4 $mu_{B}$ on different sites as expected for a spin-density-wave (SDW) type order. The upper limit of the moment on the Fe sublattice is estimated to be less than 0.1 $mu_{B}$. With increasing temperature up to 95 K, the Cr moments cant out of the $mathit{ab}$ plane gradually, with the in-plane components being suppressed and the out-of-plane components increasing in contrast. This spin-reorientation of Cr moments can explain the dip in the $mathit{c}$-direction magnetic susceptibility and the kink in the magnetic order parameter at $mathit{T_{O}}$ ~ 100 K, a second magnetic transition which was unexplained before. We have also discussed the similarity between FeCrAs and the model itinerant magnet Cr, which exhibits spin-flip transitions and SDW-type antiferromagnetism.
Temperature- and frequency-dependent infrared spectroscopy identifies two contributions to the electronic properties of the magnetic kagome metal Fe$_3$Sn$_2$: two-dimensional Dirac fermions and strongly correlated flat bands. The interband transitions within the linearly dispersing Dirac bands appear as a two-step feature along with a very narrow Drude component due to intraband contribution. Low-lying absorption features indicate flat bands with multiple van Hove singularities. Localized charge carriers are seen as a Drude-peak shifted to finite frequencies. The spectral weight is redistributed when the spins are reoriented at low temperatures; a sharp mode appears suggesting the opening of a gap due to the spin reorientation as the sign of additional Weyl nodes in the system.
The laminar perovskite Ca3Ru2O7 naturally forms ferromagnetic double-layers of alternating moment directions, as in the spin-valve superlattices. The mechanism of huge magnetoresistive effect in the material has been controversial due to a lack of clear understanding of various magnetic phases and phase-transitions. In this neutron diffraction study in a magnetic field, we identify four different magnetic phases in Ca3Ru2O7 and determine all first-order and second-order phase transitions between them. The spin-valve mechanism then readily explains the dominant magnetoresistive effect in Ca3Ru2O7.
The thermal and electrical transport properties of single-crystalline LaBe$_{13}$ have been investigated by specific-heat ($C$) and electrical-resistivity ($rho$) measurements. The specific-heat measurements in a wide temperature range revealed the presence of a hump anomaly near 40 K in the $C$($T$)/$T$ curve, indicating that LaBe$_{13}$ has a low-energy Einstein-like-phonon mode with a characteristic temperature of $sim$ 177 K. In addition, a superconducting transition was observed in the $rho$ measurements at the transition temperature of 0.53 K, which is higher than the value of 0.27 K reported previously by Bonville et al. Furthermore, an unusual $T^3$ dependence was found in $rho$($T$) below $sim$ 50 K, in contrast to the behavior expected from the electron--electron scattering or the electron--Debye phonon scattering.
Using complementary polarized and unpolarized single-crystal neutron diffraction, we have investigated the temperature-dependent magnetic structures of Eu$_{0.5}$Ca$_{0.5}$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$. Upon 50 % dilution of the Eu sites with isovalent Ca$^{2+}$, the Eu sublattice is found to be still long-range ordered below $mathit{T_{Eu}}$ = 10 K, in the A-typed antiferromagnetic (AFM) structure. The moment size of Eu$^{2+}$ spins is estimated to be as large as 6.74(4) $mu_{B}$ at 2.5 K. The Fe sublattice undergoes a spin-density-wave transition at $mathit{T_{SDW}}$ = 192(2) K and displays an in-plane AFM structure above $mathit{T_{Eu}}$. However, at 2.5 K, the Fe$^{2+}$ moments are found to be ordered in a canted AFM structure with a canting angle of 14(4){deg} out of the $mathit{ab}$ plane. The spin reorientation of Fe below the AFM ordering temperature of Eu provides a direct evidence of a strong interplay between the two magnetic sublattices in Eu$_{0.5}$Ca$_{0.5}$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$.