Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction and Spin Re-Orientation Transition in the Frustrated Kagome Lattice Antiferromagnet

Published

June 9, 2011

Author(s)

K. Matan, B. M. Bartlett, Joel Helton, V. Sikolenko, S. Mat'as, K. Prokes, Ying Chen, Jeffrey W. Lynn, D. Grohol, T. J. Sato, M. Tokunaga, D. G. Nocera, Y. S. Lee

Abstract

Magnetization, specific heat, and neutron scattering measurements were performed to study a magnetic transition in jarosite, a spin-5/2} kagome lattice antiferromagnet. When a magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the kagome plane, magnetizations in the ordered state show a sudden increase at a critical field H_c, indicative of the transition from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic states. This sudden increase arises as the spins on alternate kagome planes rotate 180° to ferromag- netically align the canted moments along the field direction. The canted moment on a single kagome plane is a result of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. For H < H_c, the weak ferromagnetic in- terlayer coupling forces the spins to align in such an arrangement that the canted components on any two adjacent layers are equal and opposite, yielding a zero net magnetic moment. For H < H_c, the Zeeman energy overcomes the interlayer coupling causing the spins on the alternate layers to rotate, aligning the canted moments along the field direction. Neutron scattering measurements provide the first direct evidence of this 180Degree} spin rotation at the transition.

Citation

Physical Review B

Volume

83

Issue

21

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Magnetic Frustration, kagome lattice, jarosite, magnetic structure, magnetic excitations, neutron scattering, field dependence

Citation

Matan, K. , Bartlett, B. , Helton, J. , Sikolenko, V. , Mat'as, S. , Prokes, K. , Chen, Y. , Lynn, J. , Grohol, D. , Sato, T. , Tokunaga, M. , Nocera, D. and Lee, Y. (2011), Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction and Spin Re-Orientation Transition in the Frustrated Kagome Lattice Antiferromagnet, Physical Review B, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=907997 (Accessed October 14, 2025)