Stripe antiferromagnetic ground state of the ideal triangular lattice compound KErSe2

Jie Xing, Keith M. Taddei, Liurukara D. Sanjeewa, Randy S. Fishman, Marcus Daum, Martin Mourigal, C. dela Cruz, and Athena S. Sefat
Phys. Rev. B 103, 144413 – Published 9 April 2021

Abstract

Rare-earth triangular lattice materials have been proposed as a good platform for the investigation of frustrated magnetic ground states. KErSe2, with the delafossite structure, contains perfect two-dimensional Er3+ triangular layers separated by potassium ions, realizing this ideal configuration and inviting study. Here we investigate the magnetism of KErSe2 at millikelvin temperatures by heat capacity and neutron powder diffraction. Heat capacity results reveal a magnetic transition at 0.2 K in zero applied field. This long-range order is suppressed by an applied magnetic field of 0.5 T below 0.08 K. Neutron powder diffraction suggests that the zero-field magnetic structure orders with k=(12,0,12) in a stripe spin structure. Unexpectedly, Er is found to have a reduced moment of 3.06(1)μB/Er in the ordered state, and diffuse magnetic scattering, which originates at higher temperatures, is found to persist in the ordered state, potentially indicating magnetic fluctuations. Neutron diffraction collected under an applied field shows a metamagnetic transition at 0.5 T to ferromagnetic order with k=(0,0,0) and two possible structures, which are likely dependent on the applied field direction. The zero-field stripe spin structure can be explained by the anisotropic interactions or the first-, second-, and third-neighbor couplings in the antiferromagnetic triangular lattice.

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  • Received 1 June 2020
  • Revised 22 March 2021
  • Accepted 22 March 2021
  • Corrected 24 May 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.103.144413

©2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Corrections

24 May 2021

Correction: The omissions of a data availability statement and Acknowledgment section have been fixed.

Authors & Affiliations

Jie Xing1,*, Keith M. Taddei2,*, Liurukara D. Sanjeewa1,*, Randy S. Fishman1, Marcus Daum3, Martin Mourigal3, C. dela Cruz2, and Athena S. Sefat1

  • 1Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
  • 2Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
  • 3School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Issue

Vol. 103, Iss. 14 — 1 April 2021

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