Mapping the B,T phase diagram of frustrated metamagnet CuFeO2

Abstract

The magnetic phase diagram of CuFeO2 as a function of applied magnetic field and temperature is thoroughly explored and expanded, both for magnetic fields applied parallel and perpendicular to the material's c-axis. Pulsed field magnetization measurements extend the typical magnetic staircase of CuFeO2 at various temperatures, demonstrating the persistence of the recently discovered high field metamagnetic transition up to Tn2 ~ 11 K in both field configurations. An extension of the previously introduced phenomenological spin model used to describe the high field magnetization process (Phys. Rev. B, 80, 012406 (2009)) is applied to each of the consecutive low-field commensurate spin structures, yielding a semi-quantitative simulation and intuitive description of the entire experimental magnetization process in both relevant field directions with a single set of parameters.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.