Field induced phase transition and magnetic phase diagram of multiferroic Ca₂CoSi₂O₇

Magnetic phase transitions are important for the application of individual materials toward modern spintronics and sensing. Using high-resolution sound velocity and pyrocurrent measurements, we have obtained a detailed magnetic phase diagram of multiferroic Ca₂CoSi₂O₇ for magnetic fields applied along the crystallographic [100]- and [001]-directions. The magneto-acoustic measurements were conducted for both longitudinal and transverse modes in both static and pulsed magnetic fields up to 17 and 68 T, respectively. Distinct anomalies with significant changes in sound velocity and sound attenuation were observed at the onset of the structural and magnetic phase transitions. Interestingly, results obtained for fields parallel to the [100]-direction reveal a hysteresis and step-like decrements in ultrasound indicating a transition into a different metastable structural distortion below T_N and at magnetic fields between 4 and 10 T that has not been previously reported. We believe that this field-induced distorted structure phase may be the cause of the subsequent phase transition at 11 T. At low temperatures, a softening of the lattice within the ordered phases is also observed, which may be due to residual spin fluctuations.