2018/01/23 by Yoshihiko Okamoto, Masaki Mori, Naoyuki Katayama +5
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Antiferromagnetism #Chromium #Crystallite #Ferromagnetism #Geometrical frustration #Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials #Magnetization #Nuclear materials and radiation effects #Paramagnetism #Pyrochlore #Spinel #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.7566/jpsj.87.034709
published as J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 87, 034709(1-8) (2018) · 10 pages, 12 figures, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn., in press
arxiv created 2018/01/23 · openalex created_date 2018/02/02 · openalex publication_date 2018/02/19 · arxiv updated 2020/06/12 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We report a comprehensive study on the magnetic and structural properties of the spinel sulfides LiInCr4S8, LiGaCr4S8, and CuInCr4S8, where Li+/Cu+ and Ga3+/In3+ ions form a zinc-blende-type order. On the basis of synchrotron X-ray diffraction and magnetization data obtained using polycrystalline samples, these three sulfides are suggested to be breathing pyrochlore magnets with alternating antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic interactions on the small and large tetrahedra, respectively. The measured magnetization processes of the three sulfides up to 72 T are significantly different. The magnetization curves of LiInCr4S8 and CuInCr4S8 have large hysteresis loops with different shapes, while there is no hysteresis in that of LiGaCr4S8. Geometrical frustration of the small tetrahedron is likely to give rise to a wide variety of ground states, indicating the rich physics in these antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic breathing pyrochlore magnets.