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Modification of charge and spin textures by light chemical substitution in Eu(Al1−xGax)4 (x=0.1)

Zétény Bacsó1,2,3,*, Fellipe Carneiro2, Kevin Allen4,5, Aly H. Abdeldaim2, Rebecca Scatena2, Jaime M. Moya6, Emilia Morosan4,5, Alessandro Bombardi2, and Roger D. Johnson1,3,7,†

  • 1Department of Physics, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
  • 2Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0DE, United Kingdom
  • 3Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
  • 4Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
  • 5Rice Center for Quantum Materials (RCQM) and Rice Laboratory for Emergent Magnetic Materials (RLEMM), Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
  • 6Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
  • 7London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AH, United Kingdom

  • *Contact author: zeteny.bacso@durham.ac.uk
  • †Contact author: roger.d.johnson@durham.ac.uk
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Phys. Rev. B 114, 094404 – Published 3 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/6kwv-fh15

Abstract

We present the results of a resonant x-ray-diffraction experiment, resolving both charge and spin textures in the intermetallic topological magnet Eu(Al1−xGax)4 (x = 0.1). Below ≈75 K the system develops a charge-density wave (CDW) with propagation vector kCDW≈(0,0,0.18). The CDW order parameter grows monotonically on cooling until ≈15 K, when a sudden decrease in the CDW amplitude occurs. Pairs of magnetic satellites of the (0, 0, 8) Bragg reflection corresponding to two distinct domains, k1 = (±δm, 0, 0), k2 = (0, ±δm, 0), δm=0.2002(4) were studied at the Eu L3 edge, appearing below TN = 14.8 K. Our measurement of TN is exactly coincident with the sudden drop in the CDW amplitude, which suggests strong coupling between the charge and spin orders, as observed in other compounds of the Eu(Al1−xGax)4 series. Azimuthal measurements were consistent with a single helical spin arrangement having an elliptical envelope of μY/μZ = 1.19(6) for the k2 domain, and a tilted helical (helicoidal) spin arrangement for the k1 domain, with μY/μZ = 1.14(4) and μX/μZ = 0.20(2) that may be hidden for the k2 domain due to multiple subdomains. Temperature evolution of the magnetic satellite intensities in linear and circularly polarized light found the respective ratio to be invariant with temperature, suggesting a single helicoidal magnetic phase throughout the measured temperature range. This behavior is unlike the x = 0 material, in which a spin-density wave forms first, transitioning to a helical ground state on cooling through intermediate phases. Future theoretical work on the Eu electronic ground state, supported by related experiments, will help understand the effects of Ga substitution on the evolution of the magnetic structure.

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Phys. Rev. B 114, 094404– Published 3 August, 2026
  • Received 18 March 2026
  • Revised 5 June 2026
  • Accepted 10 June 2026
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