Physical properties of the trigonal binary compound Nd2 O 3

G. Sala, M. B. Stone, B. K. Rai, A. F. May, C. R. Dela Cruz, H. Suriya Arachchige, G. Ehlers, V. R. Fanelli, V. O. Garlea, M. D. Lumsden, D. Mandrus, A. D. Christianson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

We have studied the physical properties of Nd2O3 with neutron diffraction, inelastic neutron scattering, heat-capacity, and magnetic susceptibility measurements. Nd2O3 crystallizes in a trigonal structure with Nd3+ ions surrounded by cages of seven oxygen anions. The crystal-field spectrum consists of four excitations spanning the energy range of 3-60 meV. The refined eigenfunctions indicate XY spins in the ab plane. The Curie-Weiss temperature of θCW=-23.7(1)K was determined from magnetic susceptibility measurements. Heat capacity measurements show a sharp peak at 550 mK and a broader feature centered near 1.5 K. Neutron diffraction measurements show that the 550 mK transition corresponds to long-range antiferromagnetic order implying a frustration index of θCW/TN≈43. These results indicate that Nd2O3 is a structurally and chemically simple model system for frustration caused by competing interactions with moments with predominant XY anisotropy.

Original languageEnglish
Article number114407
JournalPhysical Review Materials
Volume2
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 21 2018

Funding

We acknowledge useful discussions with C. Batista. This work was supported by the U.S. DOE, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. This research used resources at the High Flux Isotope Reactor and Spallation Neutron Source, DOE Office of Science User Facilities operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. H.S.A. and D.M. acknowledge support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's EPIQS Initiative through Grant No. GBMF4416.

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