Reentrant canonical spin-glass dynamics and tunable field-induced transitions in (GeMn)Co2O4 Kagomé lattice

• We report on the reentrant canonical semi spin-glass characteristics and controllable field-induced transitions in distorted Kagomé symmetry of (GeMn)Co2O4. This B-site spinel exhibits complicated, yet interesting magnetic behaviour in which the longitudinal ferrimagnetic (FiM) order sets in below the Néel temperature TFN ∼ 77 K due to uneven moments of divalent Co (↑ 5.33 μB) and tetravalent Mn (↓ 3.87 μB) which coexists with transverse spin-glass state below 72.85 K. Such complicated magnetic behaviour is suggested to result from the competing anisotropic superexchange interactions (JAB/kB ∼ 4.3 K, JAA/kB ∼ −6.2 K and JBB/kB ∼ −3.3 K) between the cations, which is extracted following the Néel's expression for the two-sublattice model of FiM. Dynamical susceptibility (χac (f, T)) and relaxation of thermoremanent magnetization, MTRM (t) data have been analysed by means of the empirical scaling-laws such as Vogel–Fulcher law and Power law of critical slowing down. Both of which reveal the reentrant spin-glass like character which evolves through a number of intermediate metastable states. The magnitude of Mydosh parameter (Ω ∼ 0.002), critical exponent zυ = (6.7 ± 0.07), spin relaxation time τ0 = (2.33 ± 0.1) × 10−18 s, activation energy Ea/kB = (69.8 ± 0.95) K and interparticle interaction strength (T0 = 71.6 K) provide the experimental evidences for canonical spin-glass state below the spin freezing temperature TF = 72.85 K. The field dependence of TF obtained from χac (T) follows the irreversibility in terms of de Almeida–Thouless mean-field instability in which the magnitude of crossover scaling exponent Φ turns out to be ∼2.9 for the (Ge0.8Mn0.2)Co2O4. Isothermal magnetization plots reveal two field-induced transitions across 9.52 kOe (HSF1) and 45.6 kOe (HSF2) associated with the FiM domains and spin-flip transition, respectively. Analysis of the inverse paramagnetic susceptibility after subtracting the temperature independent diamagnetic term (=−3 × 10−3 emu mol−1 Oe−1) results in the effective magnetic moment = 7.654 μB/f.u. This agrees well with the theoretically obtained = 7.58 μB/f.u. resulting the cation distribution in support of the Hund's ground state spin configuration and of Mn4+ and Co2+, respectively. The H–T phase diagram has been established by analysing all the parameters (TF(H), TFN(H), HSF1(T) and HSF2(T)) extracted from various magnetization measurements. This diagram enables clear differentiation among the different phases of the (GeMn)Co2O4 and also illustrates the demarcation between short-range and long-range ordered regions.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik -- Den kondenserade materiens fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences -- Condensed Matter Physics (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

semi spin-glass

Kagome lattice

field-induced transitions

Neel's expression

ferrimagnetism

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