Physical properties of the trigonal binary compound ${\mathrm{Nd}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$

Editors' Suggestion

Physical properties of the trigonal binary compound ${Nd}_{2} O_{3}$

G. Sala, M. B. Stone, B. K. Rai, A. F. May, C. R. Dela Cruz, H. Suriya Arachchige, G. Ehlers, V. R. Fanelli, V. O. Garlea, M. D. Lumsden, D. Mandrus, and A. D. Christianson

Phys. Rev. Materials 2, 114407 – Published 21 November 2018

Abstract

We have studied the physical properties of ${Nd}_{2} O_{3}$ with neutron diffraction, inelastic neutron scattering, heat-capacity, and magnetic susceptibility measurements. ${Nd}_{2} O_{3}$ crystallizes in a trigonal structure with ${Nd}^{3 +}$ ions surrounded by cages of seven oxygen anions. The crystal-field spectrum consists of four excitations spanning the energy range of 3–60 meV. The refined eigenfunctions indicate XY spins in the $a b$ plane. The Curie-Weiss temperature of $θ_{C W} = - 23.7 (1) K$ was determined from magnetic susceptibility measurements. Heat capacity measurements show a sharp peak at 550 mK and a broader feature centered near 1.2 K. Neutron diffraction measurements show that the 550 mK transition corresponds to long-range antiferromagnetic order implying a frustration index of $θ_{C W} / T_{N} \approx 43$ . These results indicate that ${Nd}_{2} O_{3}$ is a structurally and chemically simple model system for frustration caused by competing interactions with moments with predominant XY anisotropy.

Received 29 August 2018
Corrected 11 November 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.2.114407

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Magnetic order Magnetic phase transitions Magnetic susceptibility Magnetism Specific heat

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Corrections

11 November 2020

Correction: The value of the temperature of a broad peak in the heat capacity was given incorrectly in several locations and has been fixed to read 1.2 K. The wavelength for the neutron scattering experiments was given incorrectly in two locations and has been fixed to read 2.41 Å.

Authors & Affiliations

G. Sala^1,*, M. B. Stone^1,†, B. K. Rai², A. F. May², C. R. Dela Cruz¹, H. Suriya Arachchige^3,1, G. Ehlers⁴, V. R. Fanelli¹, V. O. Garlea¹, M. D. Lumsden¹, D. Mandrus^3,2,5, and A. D. Christianson^2,‡

¹Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
²Materials Science & Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
³Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
⁴Neutron Technologies Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
⁵Department of Material Science & Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA