- Letter
Emergence of partially disordered antiferromagnetism and isothermal magnetization plateau due to geometrical frustration in a metallic compound,
Phys. Rev. Materials 7, L101401 – Published 10 October, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.7.L101401
Abstract
Partially disordered antiferromagnetism (PDA) (in which one of the three magnetic ions in a triangular network remains magnetically disordered) has been known commonly among geometrically frustrated insulating materials. The 1/3 plateau in isothermal magnetization M of such materials has been of great theoretical interest. Here we report these properties in an -structure-derived metallic material, , in which the Er sublattice has triangular networks. The presence of a well-defined λ anomaly in the temperature T dependence of heat capacity and its magnetic-field H dependence and the loss of spin-disorder contribution to electrical resistivity ρ confirm antiferromagnetic order below . On the other hand, the separation of zero-field-cooled and field-cooled dc magnetic susceptibility χ curves, the decay of isothermal remnant magnetization, and the frequency dependence of real and imaginary components of ac χ suggest the onset of spin-glass freezing concomitant with the antiferromagnetic order. In addition, interestingly, we observe the 1/3 plateau in M(H) below 20 kOe for . The change in ρ as a function of H at a given temperature well below is also revealing, with this compound exhibiting a plateau below 20 kOe, with complexities at higher fields. Therefore, this compound serves as a prototype for theoretical understanding of transport behavior across the 1/3 plateau due to PDA magnetism in a metal without any interference from the delocalization phenomenon.