Complex magnetic order in the kagome ferromagnet Pr3Ru4Al12


Complex magnetic order in the kagome ferromagnet Pr3Ru4Al12

Henriques, M. S.; Gorbunov, D. I.; Andreev, A. V.; Fabrèges, X.; Gukasov, A.; Uhlarz, M.; Petricek, V.; Ouladdiaf, B.; Wosnitza, J.

In the hexagonal crystal structure of Pr3Ru4Al12, the Pr atoms form a distorted kagome lattice, and their magnetic moments, are subject to competing exchange and anisotropy interactions.We performed magnetization, magnetic-susceptibility, specific-heat, electrical-resistivity, and neutron-scattering measurements. Pr3Ru4Al12 is a uniaxial ferromagnet with TC = 39 K that displays a collinear magnetic structure (in the high-temperature range of the magnetically ordered state) for which the only crystallographic position of Pr is split into two sites carrying different magnetic moments. A spin-reorientation phase transition is found at 7 K. Below this temperature, part of the Pr moments rotate towards the basal plane, resulting in a noncollinear magnetic state with a lower magnetic symmetry. We argue that unequal RKKY exchange interactions competing with the crystal electric field lead to a moment instability and qualitatively explain the observed magnetic phases in Pr3Ru4Al12.

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Publ.-Id: 27499