Direct Visualization of Magnetic Correlations in Frustrated Spinel ZnFe2 O4
© 2022 The Authors. Advanced Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.
| Publié dans: | Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.). - 1998. - 35(2023), 5 vom: 01. Feb., Seite e2207152 |
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| Auteur principal: | |
| Autres auteurs: | , , , , |
| Format: | Article en ligne |
| Langue: | English |
| Publié: |
2023
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| Accès à la collection: | Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) |
| Sujets: | Journal Article frustrated magnetism magnetic pair distribution function neutron scattering spin-glass |
| Résumé: | © 2022 The Authors. Advanced Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH. Magnetic materials with the spinel structure (A2+ B3+ 2 O4 ) form the core of numerous magnetic devices, and ZnFe2 O4 constitutes a peculiar example where the nature of the magnetism is still unresolved. Susceptibility measurements revealed a cusp around Tc = 13 K resembling an antiferromagnetic transition, despite the positive Curie-Weiss temperature determined to be ΘCW = 102.8(1) K. Bifurcation of field-cooled and zero-field-cooled data below Tc in conjunction with a frequency dependence of the peak position and a non-zero imaginary component below Tc shows it is in fact associated with a spin-glass transition. Highly structured magnetic diffuse neutron scattering from single crystals develops between 50 K and 25 K revealing the presence of magnetic disorder which is correlated in nature. Here, the 3D-mΔPDF method is used to visualize the local magnetic ordering preferences, and ferromagnetic nearest-neighbor and antiferromagnetic third nearest-neighbor correlations are shown to be dominant. Their temperature dependence is extraordinary with some flipping in sign and a strongly varying correlation length. The correlations can be explained by orbital interaction mechanisms for the magnetic pathways and a preferred spin cluster. This study demonstrates the power of the 3D-mΔPDF method in visualizing complex quantum phenomena thereby providing a way to obtain an atomic-scale understanding of magnetic frustration |
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| Description: | Date Completed 03.02.2023 Date Revised 03.02.2023 published: Print-Electronic Citation Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1521-4095 |
| DOI: | 10.1002/adma.202207152 |