Abstract
We report on a solution-growth based method to synthesise single crystals of Y2Co3 and on its structural and magnetic properties. We find that Y2Co3 crystallizes in the La2Ni3-type orthorhombic structure with space group Cmce (No. 64), with Co forming distorted kagome lattices. Y2Co3 orders antiferromagnetically below TN=252 K. Magnetization measurements reveal that the moments are primarily aligned along the b axis with evidence for some canting. Band-structure calculations indicate that ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic orders are nearly degenerate, at odds with experimental results. Magnetization measurements under pressure up to 1 GPa reveal that the Néel temperature decreases with the slope of -1.69 K/GPa. We observe a field-induced spin-flop transition in the magnetization measurements at 1.5 K and 21 T with magnetic field along the b direction. The magnetization is not saturated up to 35 T, indicating that the antiferromagnetic ordering in Y2Co3 is quite robust, which is surprising for such a Co-rich intermetallic.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 184407 |
| Journal | Physical Review B |
| Volume | 104 |
| Issue number | 18 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 1 2021 |
Funding
We thank Shanti Deemyad and Audrey Grockowiak for useful discussions. V.T. and Y.S. acknowledge support from the UC Lab Fees Research Program (LFR-20-653926) and UC Davis Startup funds. Work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (first-principles calculations) was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering Division. K.P.D. and S.M.K. acknowledge NSF DMR-1709382, -2001156 for funding. A portion of this work was performed at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, which is supported by the National Science Foundation Cooperative Agreement No. DMR-1644779 and the State of Florida.