Critical Structural Parameter Determining Magnetic Phases in the Fe2Mo3O8 Altermagnet System

Abstract

A systematic structural study of the Fe2Mo3O8 system as a function of pressure, temperature, and magnetic field reveals that the P63mc space group of this material remains stable for a broad range of these parameters. No changes are seen in the long-range structure for pressures between 0 and 10 GPa, temperatures between 11 K and 300 K, and magnetic fields up to 9 T. The magnetostructural response (delta c/c) for a magnetic field transverse to the c-axis displacement is determined. The system is found to exhibit strong magnetostructural coupling. The well-known magnetic-field-induced first-order transition is found to be isostructural, between two distinct altermagnet states, and is accessible by fields in the a-b plane. In terms of the c/a ratio, the structures between ambient pressure and 10 GPa are found to map onto the full Zn doping range ((Fe1-yZny)2Mo3O8,0<y<1) in this system. The results show that the critical sensitive structural parameter for tuning the magnetic properties with pressure, temperature, and pressure is the c-axis length. The results indicate that the magnetic order in this complex metal oxide system (A2Mo3O8, A=Co, Mn, and Ni) can be cleanly tuned by pressure, making this class of materials an excellent platform for magnetic order switching in films grown on piezoelectric substrates.

Main document with 33 pages including 10 figures. Supplementary document with 16 pages, including 6 figures and 3 tables