Competition between magnetic interactions and structural instabilities leading to itinerant frustration in the triangular lattice antiferromagnet LiCrSe2Diamond House, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Fermi Ave, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK.
Frontier Research Center for Applied Atomic Sciences, Ibaraki University, 162-1 Shirakata, Tokai, Ibaraki, 319-1106, Japan.
Frontier Research Center for Applied Atomic Sciences, Ibaraki University, 162-1 Shirakata, Tokai, Ibaraki, 319-1106, Japan.
Organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0801, Japan; Department of Materials Structure Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0801, Japan.
Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan.
Muon Science Laboratory, Institute of Materials Structure Science, KEK, Tokai, Ibaraki, 319-1106, Japan.
Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Physics, Göteborg, SE-412 96, Sweden.
Department of Quantum Matter Physics, University of Geneva, 24 Quai Ernest-Ansermet, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland.
Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232, Villigen, PSI, Switzerland.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada; TRIUMF, 4004 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2A3, Canada.
Neutron Science and Technology Center, Comprehensive Research Organization for Science and Society (CROSS), Tokai, Ibaraki, 319-1106, Japan, Ibaraki; Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai, Ibaraki, 319-1195, Japan.
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2023 (English)In: Communications Materials, E-ISSN 2662-4443, Vol. 4, no 1, article id 81Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
LiCrSe2 constitutes a recent valuable addition to the ensemble of two-dimensional triangular lattice antiferromagnets. In this work, we present a comprehensive study of the low temperature nuclear and magnetic structure established in this material. Being subject to a strong magnetoelastic coupling, LiCrSe2 was found to undergo a first order structural transition from a trigonal crystal system (P3 ¯ m1) to a monoclinic one (C2/m) at T s = 30 K. Such restructuring of the lattice is accompanied by a magnetic transition at T N = 30 K. Refinement of the magnetic structure with neutron diffraction data and complementary muon spin rotation analysis reveal the presence of a complex incommensurate magnetic structure with a up-up-down-down arrangement of the chromium moments with ferromagnetic double chains coupled antiferromagnetically. The spin axial vector is also modulated both in direction and modulus, resulting in a spin density wave-like order with periodic suppression of the chromium moment along the chains. This behavior is believed to appear as a result of strong competition between direct exchange antiferromagnetic and superexchange ferromagnetic couplings established between both nearest neighbor and next nearest neighbor Cr3+ ions. We finally conjecture that the resulting magnetic order is stabilized via subtle vacancy/charge order within the lithium layers, potentially causing a mix of two co-existing magnetic phases within the sample.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Nature , 2023. Vol. 4, no 1, article id 81
National Category
Condensed Matter Physics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-338336DOI: 10.1038/s43246-023-00407-xISI: 001082516900001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85173564755OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-338336DiVA, id: diva2:1806328
Note
Correction in 10.1038/s43246-023-00426-8
QC 20231020
2023-10-202023-10-202023-12-07Bibliographically approved