Magnetic Structure of RCuIn, (R = Nd, Tb, Ho, Er)

A. Szytuła a, S. Baran a, T. Jaworska-Gołąb a, B. Penc a, A. Zarzycki a, N. Stűsser b, A. Arulraj b and Yu. Tyvanchuk c a M. Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Reymonta 4, 30-059 Kraków, Poland b BENSC, Hahn-Meitner Institute, Berlin-Wannsee, Glienicker Str. 100, D-14-109 Berlin, Germany c Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Kyryla and Mefodiya 6, UA-79005 Lviv, Ukraine

Full Text PDF

Received: 3 06 2007;

Magnetic and neutron diffraction measurements of RCuIn (R = Nd, Tb, Ho, Er) are reported. The compounds crystallize in the hexagonal ZrNiAl-type structure. The ZrNiAl lattice originates from a distortion of a kagomélattice. The studied compounds are antiferromagnets with the Néel temperature equal to 4.9 K for R = Nd, 14.5 K for R = Tb, 4.5 K for R = Ho and 3.5 K for R = Er. The magnetic ordering is described by the propagation vectorwe k = (1/2, 1/2, kz) with kz equal to 0.161(6) for R = Nd, 0.2213(5) for R = Tb, 0.2510(3) for R = Ho and 0 for R = Er. The magnetic structure is noncollinear with magnetic moments in the basal plane for R = Nd, Tb and Ho and collinear with magnetic moments parallel to the c-axis for R = Er. The observed magnetic ordering results from the competition between exchange interactions of the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida type, the geometrical frustration of the rare-earth magnetic moments and the influence of the crystal electric field. The latter affects the direction of magnetic moments and is responsible for the magnetic crystalline anisotropy.

DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.113.1185 PACS numbers: 61.12-q, 71.20.Lp, 75.25.+z, 75.50.Ee