Origin of the magnetization and compensation temperature in rare-earth orthoferrites and orthochromates

Authors

H. J. Zhao, J. Íñiguez, X. M. Chen, and L. Bellaiche

Reference

Physical Review B, vol. 93, no. 1, art. no. 014417, 2016

Description

We consider orthoferrite and orthochromite perovskites with the formula RMO₃, where R is a lanthanide and M is Fe or Cr. We identify an atomistic interaction that couples the magnetic moments of the R and M cations with the oxygen octahedral rotations characterizing these crystals. We show that this interaction results in an effective magnetic field acting on the R atoms, which in turn explains several intriguing features of these compounds, such as the existence (or absence) of a net magnetization associated with the R sublattice and its crystallographic direction. Further, considered together with the couplings described by L. Bellaiche et al. [J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 24, 312201 (2012)], this interaction explains why some RMO₃ compounds display a compensation temperature at which the magnetization cancels and changes sign, while others do not.

Link

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.93.014417