Abstract
We have conducted a comprehensive investigation into the magnetic properties of the chiral multiferroic material CoTeMoO6. In contrast with the previous claim of canted antiferromagnetic order with ferromagnetic components [Y. Doi, J. Solid State Chem. 182, 3232 (2009)10.1016/j.jssc.2009.09.008], our investigation reveals an antiferromagnetic ground state with compensated moments, providing an interesting platform for exploring exotic material properties. Through careful measurements of magnetization under a series of applied fields, we demonstrate that there exist two sequential field-induced magnetic transitions in CoTeMoO6, with one occurring at Hc1=460 Oe along the a axis, and the other at Hc2=1.16 T with the field along the b axis. The values of Hc1 and Hc2 exhibit strong angular dependence and diverge with different rates as the applied field is rotated 90 ° within the ab plane. This reflects the distinct nature of these transitions, which is further supported by the different critical behavior of Hc1 and Hc2, characterized by the values of γ, in the function of Hc=H0(1-T/Tc)γ. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that there exist structural and magnetic twin domains in CoTeMoO6 that strongly affect the experimental measurement of their macroscopic properties. Intriguingly, these twin domains can be related to the orthorhombicity/chirality of the crystal structure with the space group P21212. We further explored the magnetic and structural domains with uniaxial pressure and polarized light microscopy. Our results suggest that CoTeMoO6 could be used as a unique platform for investigating the intriguing physics involving intertwined degrees of freedom. The tunability of the underlying domain distribution and its strong anisotropy could also be useful for developing functional devices and applications.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 104434 |
| Journal | Physical Review B |
| Volume | 111 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 1 2025 |
Funding
Y.L. is grateful to F. Womack and S. Karna for the assistance with measurements. J.H.C. thanks A. Roy for DSC measurements at the Center for Advanced Microstructure and Devices, LSU. We acknowledge D. M. Cao and Y. Mu at the shared Instrumentation Facility (SIF), LSU, for chemical and structural analysis. Work at Argonne National Laboratory was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. Crystal growth and magnetic and optical measurements were supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under EPSCoR Grant No. DESC0012432 with additional support from the Louisiana Board of Regents. X.W. acknowledges research sponsored by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UTBattelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy. The neutron diffraction research used resources at the Spallation Neutron Source, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.