Nature of the field-induced magnetic incommensurability in multiferroic Ni${}_3$TeO${}_6$

Abstract

Using single crystal neutron scattering we show that the magnetic structure Ni${}_3$TeO${}_6$ at fields above 8.6 T along the $c$ axis changes from a commensurate collinear antiferromagnetic structure with spins along c and ordering vector $Q_C$= (0 0 1.5), to a conical spiral with propagation vector $Q_{IC}$= (0 0 1.5$\pm \delta$),$\delta \sim$0.18, having a significant spin component in the ($a$,$b$) plane. We determine the phase diagram of this material in magnetic fields up to 10.5 T along $c$ and show the phase transition between the low field and conical spiral phases is of first order by observing a discontinuous jump of the ordering vector. $Q_{IC}$ is found to drift both as function of magnetic field and temperature. Preliminary inelastic neutron scattering reveals that the spin wave gap in zero field has minima exactly at $Q_{IC}$ and a gap of about 1.1 meV consisting with a cross-over around 8.6 T. Our findings excludes the possibility of the inverse Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction as a cause for the giant magneto-electric coupling earlier observed in this material and advocates for the symmetric exchangestriction as the origin of this effect.

References in corpus (9)

• Electric field control of nonvolatile four-state magnetization at room temperature
• Reversible Control of Magnetic Interactions by Electric Field in a Single Phase Material
• Successive magnetic field-induced transitions and colossal magnetoelectric effect in Ni${}_3$TeO${}_6$
• Ni3TeO6 - a collinear antiferromagnet with ferromagnetic honeycomb planes
• Complex magnetism and magnetic field-driven electrical polarization in Co${}_3$TeO${}_6$
• Enhancement of antiferromagnetic interaction and transition temperature in M3TeO6 systems (M = Mn, Co, Ni, Cu)
• Gains from the upgrade of the cold neutron triple-axis spectrometer FLEXX at the BER-II reactor
• Interplay between the magnetic and electric degrees-of-freedom in multiferroic Co3TeO6
• Symmetry Analysis of Multiferroic Co_3TeO_6

Cited by in corpus (8)

• MJOLNIR: A Software Package for Multiplexing Neutron Spectrometers
• Nonreciprocal directional dichroism at telecom wavelengths
• Metamagnetic transitions and magnetoelectric responses in a chiral polar helimagnet Ni${}_2$InSbO${}_6$
• Diagonal and off-diagonal thermal conduction with resonant phonon scattering in $N{i}_{3}Te{O}_6$
• Evidence of exchange-striction and charge disproportionation in the magneto-electric material Ni3TeO6
• High-field magnetoelectric coupling and successive magnetic transitions in Mn-doped polar antiferromagnet Ni3TeO6
• Magnetic Phase Diagram of Rouaite, Cu${}_2$(OH)${}_3$NO${}_3$
• A Comprehensible Review: Magnonic Magnetoelectric Coupling in Ferroelectric/ Ferromagnetic Composites