Synthesis, physical and magnetic properties of CuAlCr${}_4$S${}_8$: a new Cr-based breathing pyrochlore

Abstract

We present the synthesis and physical properties of a new breathing pyrochlore magnet CuAlCr${}_4$S${}_8$ with the help of synchrotron x-ray diffraction (XRD), magnetization under ambient and applied hydrostatic pressure, heat capacity, and muon spin relaxation/rotation ($\mu$SR) measurements. CuAlCr${}_4$S${}_8$ exhibits positive thermal expansion with concave upward temperature dependence. We observed a sharp antiferromagnetic ordering transition of a purely magnetic nature at 20 K, which shifts by as much as 3.2 K on the application of 600 MPa pressure. The breathing factor (B${}_f$ = $J^{\prime }/J$) in breathing pyrochlores can be an important parameter to tune the magnetic ground states of the pyrochlore lattice. The breathing factor can be modulated through breathing ratio, the ratio of sizes of the two tetrahedra, by using different elements at A and A' sites in the breathing pyrochlore structure. We find that CuAlCr${}_4$S${}_8$ has a breathing ratio of 1.0663(8), which is comparable to other sulfur breathing pyrochlores.

arXiv comment7 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (21)

• Magnetic Pyrochlore Oxides
• musrfit: A free platform-independent framework for muSR data analysis
• Dynamically-Induced Frustration as a Route to a Quantum Spin Ice State in Tb2Ti2O7 via Virtual Crystal Field Excitations and Quantum Many-Body Effects
• Static Critical Behavior of the Spin-Freezing Transition in the Geometrically Frustrated Pyrochlore Antiferromagnet Y2Mo2O7
• Definitive Evidence for Order-by-Quantum-Disorder in Er2Ti2O7
• Colossal magnetostriction and negative thermal expansion in the frustrated antiferromagnet ZnCr2Se4
• Magnetic order and spin fluctuations in the spin liquid Tb$\_2$Sn$\_2$O$\_7$
• Breathing Pyrochlore Lattice Realized in A-Site Ordered Spinel Oxides LiGaCr4O8 and LiInCr4O8
• Electronic band structure and exchange coupling constants in ACr2X4 spinels
• Spin-driven Phonon Splitting in Bond-frustrated ZnCr2S4
• Breathing chromium spinels: a showcase for a variety of pyrochlore Heisenberg Hamiltonians
• Negative thermal expansion and magnetoelastic coupling in the breathing pyrochlore lattice material LiGaCr4S8
• Magnetic Phase Diagram of the Breathing Pyrochlore Antiferromagnet LiGa1-xInxCr4O8
• Magnetic and Structural Properties of A-Site Ordered Chromium Spinel Sulfides: Alternating Antiferromagnetic and Ferromagnetic Interactions in the Breathing Pyrochlore Lattice
• Frustrated Magnetism in Fluoride and Chalcogenide Pyrochlore Lattice Materials
• Cluster Frustration in the Breathing Pyrochlore Magnet LiGaCr4S8
• Classical Spin Nematic Transition in LiGa${}_{0.95}$In${}_{0.05}$Cr${}_4$O${}_8$
• Crystal Field Excitations in Breathing Pyrochlore Antiferromagnet Ba3Yb2Zn5O11
• Magnetization process of the breathing pyrochlore magnet CuInCr${}_4$S${}_8$ in ultra-high magnetic fields up to 150 T
• Thermal Expansion and Volume Magnetostriction in Breathing Pyrochlore Magnets LiACr${}_4$X${}_8$ (A = Ga, In, X = O, S)
• Inelastic Neutron Scattering Study of the Spin Dynamics in the Breathing Pyrochlore System LiGa0.95In0.05Cr4O8

Cited by in corpus (7)

• A Candidate for the Quantum Spin Liquid Ground-State in the Shastry-Sutherland Lattice Material Yb${}_2$Be${}_2$GeO${}_7$
• Beyond Single Tetrahedron Physics of Breathing Pyrochlore Compound Ba3Yb2Zn5O11
• Breathing pyrochlore magnet CuGaCr${}_4$S${}_8$: Magnetic, thermodynamic, and dielectric properties
• Mössbauer spectroscopy study of the magnetostructural and spin-state transitions in the breathing pyrochlore LiFeCr${}_4$O${}_8$
• Synthesis and characterization of the novel breathing pyrochlore compound Ba3Tm2Zn5O11
• Theta electromagnetism in quantum spin ice: Microscopic analysis of improper symmetries
• The origin and scarcity of breathing pyrochlore lattices in spinel oxides