Structural, magnetic, and electronic properties of a GdAsSe single crystal: Experimental and theoretical studies
Dr. Raman Sankar in collaboration with Dr. Tien-Ming Chuang and Dr. Chia-Seng Chang at Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, investigated Structural, magnetic, and electronic properties of a GdAsSe single crystals. They report high-quality single-crystal growth, x-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility [χ(T,H)], magnetization [M(H)], heat capacity [CP(T,H)], electrical resistivity [ρ(T,H)], and electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements of GdAsSe as functions of temperature and magnetic field. They identify an antiferromagnetic phase transition at TN∼11.9±0.2K and construct magnetic phase diagrams for H||ab and H||c axes based on the χ(T,H) and CP(T,H) data. Isothermal M(H) curves along the H||ab direction at 3K exhibit a field-induced spin orientation at HC∼3.78T. Both M(H) and χ(T,H) indicate an easy-plane-type anisotropy. The presence of residual entropy above TN and the persistence of ESR critical broadening up to ∼3TN alludes to a degree of magnetic frustration in the studied material. Further, density functional theory calculations reveal an antiferromagnetic ground state where the Gd atoms are coupled ferromagnetically in the ab plane and antiferromagnetically along the c axis.
Journal Links: https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.109.184420