Temperature- and field-driven spin reorientations in triple-layer ruthenate Sr4Ru3O10

M Zhu; P G Li; Y Wang; H B Cao; W Tian; H D Zhang; B D Phelan; Z Q Mao; X Ke

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22247-3

Temperature- and field-driven spin reorientations in triple-layer ruthenate Sr₄Ru₃O₁₀

Sci Rep. 2018 Mar 2;8(1):3914. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-22247-3.

Authors

M Zhu¹, P G Li², Y Wang², H B Cao³, W Tian³, H D Zhang¹, B D Phelan¹, Z Q Mao², X Ke⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA.
² Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70118, USA.
³ Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 37831, USA.
⁴ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA. ke@pa.msu.edu.

Abstract

Sr₄Ru₃O₁₀, the n = 3 member of the Ruddlesden-Popper type ruthenate Sr_n+1Ru _n O_3n+1, is known to exhibit a peculiar metamagnetic transition in an in-plane magnetic field. However, the nature of both the temperature- and field-dependent phase transitions remains as a topic of debate. Here, we have investigated the magnetic transitions of Sr₄Ru₃O₁₀ via single-crystal neutron diffraction measurements. At zero field, we find that the system undergoes a ferromagnetic transition with both in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic components at T_c ≈ 100 K. Below T ^* = 50 K, the magnetic moments incline continuously toward the out-of-plane direction. At T = 1.5 K, where the spins are nearly aligned along the c axis, a spin reorientation occurs above a critical field B_c, giving rise to a spin component perpendicular to the plane defined by the field direction and the c axis. We suggest that both the temperature- and field-driven spin reorientations are associated with a change in the magnetocrystalline anisotropy, which is strongly coupled to the lattice degrees of freedom. This study elucidates the long-standing puzzles on the zero-field magnetic orders of Sr₄Ru₃O₁₀ and provides new insights into the nature of the field-induced metamagnetic transition.