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Magnetic field‐dependent spin structures of nanocrystalline holmium
Author(s) -
Szary Philipp,
Kaiser Daniel,
Bick Jens-Peter,
Lott Dieter,
Heinemann André,
Dewhurst Charles,
Birringer Rainer,
Michels Andreas
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of applied crystallography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.429
H-Index - 162
ISSN - 1600-5767
DOI - 10.1107/s1600576716001898
Subject(s) - nanocrystalline material , crystallite , spins , magnetization , holmium , materials science , anisotropy , condensed matter physics , crystallography , phase (matter) , field (mathematics) , neutron diffraction , helix (gastropod) , magnetic field , crystal structure , chemistry , physics , optics , geology , laser , mathematics , quantum mechanics , pure mathematics , paleontology , organic chemistry , snail
The results are reported of magnetic field‐dependent neutron diffraction experiments on polycrystalline inert‐gas condensed holmium with a nanometre crystallite size ( D = 33 nm). At T = 50 K, no evidence is found for the existence of helifan(3/2) or helifan(2) structures for the nanocrystalline sample, in contrast with results reported in the literature for the single crystal. Instead, when the applied field H is increased, the helix pattern transforms progressively, most likely into a fan structure. It is the component of H which acts on the basal‐plane spins of a given nanocrystallite that drives the disappearance of the helix; for nanocrystalline Ho, this field is about 1.3 T, and it is related to a characteristic kink in the virgin magnetization curve. For a coarse‐grained Ho sample, concomitant with the destruction of the helix phase, the emergence of an unusual angular anisotropy (streak pattern) and the appearance of novel spin structures are observed.