Lattice-Expansion-Driven Stabilization of Helical Magnetic Order in Ru-Doped MnP

Abstract

The practical utilization of MnP in chiral spintronic devices is fundamentally constrained by its low helical ordering temperature ($T_{\rm S}$). Here, we demonstrate that Ru substitution in Mn$_{1-x}$Ru$_x$P single crystals drives a highly anisotropic lattice expansion, where the $b$-axis elongation is one-quarter that of the $a$- and $c$-axes ($\sim$ 0.04 \AA). This structural distortion profoundly stabilizes the helical ground state, elevating $T_{\rm S}$ from 51~K to 215~K and the critical field along the [010] direction at 5~K from 2.3 to 30.0~kOe, while suppressing the Curie temperature ($T_{\rm C}$) from 291~K to 215~K. Synthesizing these results with reported data on Mo- and W-doped analogues reveals that $T_{\rm S}$ and $T_{\rm C}$ are governed primarily by the $b$-axis parameter, exhibiting universal linear scaling relationships ($dT_{\rm S}/db = 1.59 \times 10^4\ \text{K\AA}^{-1}$, $dT_{\rm C}/db = 0.69 \times 10^4\ \text{K\AA}^{-1}$) far greater than those associated with the $a$- or $c$-axes. First-principles calculations reveal that the lattice expansion selectively attenuates ferromagnetic coupling while preserving antiferromagnetic interactions between nearest-neighbor Mn atoms, thereby enhancing magnetic frustration and stabilizing helimagnetism. These findings establish chemical pressure via directed $b$-axis engineering as a robust, generalizable paradigm for stabilizing helimagnetism in MnP.