Field driven spin structure evolution in MnCr2S4 A high field single crystal neutron diffraction study

Abstract

We present a comprehensive microscopic insight into the spin configurations within the bond frustrated cubic spinel compound MnCr2 amp; 8290;S4 directly unveiled through extensive single crystal neutron diffraction studies carried out in zero magnetic field and in fields up to 35 T. While our zero field results confirm the ferrimagnetic structure with an antiparallel arrangement of the magnetic Cr3 and Mn2 sublattices below amp; 119879;FiM amp; 8776;65 K, as well as the presence of the exotic Yafet Kittel phase below amp; 119879;YK amp; 8776;5 K, our data measured in fields enable us to precisely determine the field induced magnetic structures and their evolution across the phase transitions at amp; 120583;0 amp; 8290; amp; 119867;1 amp; 8776;11T and amp; 120583;0 amp; 8290; amp; 119867;2 amp; 8776;25T and beyond that towards amp; 120583;0 amp; 8290; amp; 119867;3 amp; 8776;50T . Additionally, combining our experimental findings with mean field theory calculations reveals a complex field dependence of the Mn Mn and Mn Cr exchange interactions across the different phases, highlighting the significant influence of spin lattice coupling in this materia