ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Magnetic Phase Separation in a Frustrated Antiferromagnet

Abstract: Frustrated magnetic materials are interesting because they show unusual behaviour arising from a near-degeneracy of ground states. The magnetic order of MgCr2O4 - apparently built from two symmetry-unrelated wavevectors - is an exotic example. Recent results suggest that magnetic order may involve frustration-induced phase separation into two nearly-degenerate states that couple differently to the lattice, leading to different lattice distortions from the cubic high-temperature phase. To test this hypothesis, we propose to use high-resolution powder and single-crystal diffraction to (i) determine if the magnetic structure is a single or two-phase; (ii) find the ordering wave vectors with respect to the low-temperature distorted crystal structure(s); (iii) solve the spin arrangements. Our results would reveal the nature of frustration and its coupling to the lattice in a topical magnet.

Principal Investigator: Professor Martin Mourigal
Experimenter: Dr Seyed Koohpayeh
Local Contact: Dr Pascal Manuel
Experimenter: Dr Joe Paddison
Experimenter: Mr Xiaojian Bai

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1620425

ISIS Experiment Number: RB1620425

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Professor Martin Mourigal et al; (2016): Magnetic Phase Separation in a Frustrated Antiferromagnet, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1620425

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.