Highly anisotropic magnetic phase diagram of the ferromagnetic rare-earth diboride HoB$_{2}$

Abstract

Rare-earth (RE) compounds have been of enormous interest in condensed matter physics as a platform for the exploration of interesting physical phenomena. Here, we report the successful single crystal growth of HoB$_{2}$, which exhibits a paramagnetic (PM)-ferromagnetic (FM) phase transition at 15 K and another phase transition at 11 K, and the discovery of a highly anisotropic magnetic phase diagram of this FM diboride. Magnetization measurements suggest that the ferromagnetically ordered moments of Ho$^{3+}$ ions are oriented at a direction tilted by 50 degrees from the ab-plane at 2K, which rotate largely toward the ab-plane direction upon application of a magnetic field, but hardly toward the c-axis direction. Heat capacity and electrical resistivity measurements clearly demonstrate that the low-temperature phase transition at 11 K occurs even under high magnetic fields along the ab-plane direction, whereas it disappears immediately by magnetic fields along the c-axis direction. Moreover, the field-induced crossover phenomenon between FM and PM phases near 15 K is found to be more promoted when applying a magnetic field along the ab-plane direction. The resulting magnetic phase diagram reveals that in-plane magnetic anisotropy is predominant in the present system, which contradicts the previous report of a spin reorientation phenomenon toward the c-axis direction between 11 K and 15 K. Taken together, the present findings suggest the presence of strong competition between in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic anisotropies in HoB$_{2}$, giving rise to the unique FM spin arrangement.