Kinetic-arrest-induced phase coexistence and metastability in (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si)
Xue-fei Miao (TU Delft - RST/Fundamental Aspects of Materials and Energy)
Y. Mitsui (Kagoshima University)
Iulian Dugulan (TU Delft - RID/TS/Technici Pool)
L Caron (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, TU Delft - RST/Fundamental Aspects of Materials and Energy)
P. Manuel (ISIS Neutron and Muon Source)
K. Koyama (Kagoshima University)
K. Takahashi (Tohoku University)
Niels van Dijk (TU Delft - RST/Fundamental Aspects of Materials and Energy)
Ekkes Brück (TU Delft - RST/Fundamental Aspects of Materials and Energy)
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Abstract
Neutron diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy, magnetometry, and in-field x-ray diffraction are employed to investigate the magnetoelastic phase transition in hexagonal (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) compounds. (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) compounds undergo for certain compositions a second-order paramagnetic (PM) to a spin-density-wave (SDW) phase transition before further transforming into a ferromagnetic (FM) phase via a first-order phase transition. The SDW-FM transition can be kinetically arrested, causing the coexistence of FM and untransformed SDW phases at low temperatures. Our in-field x-ray diffraction and magnetic relaxation measurements clearly reveal the metastability of the untransformed SDW phase. This unusual magnetic configuration originates from the strong magnetoelastic coupling and the mixed magnetism in hexagonal (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) compounds.