3D- (H-theta-phi) magnetic phase diagram of antiferromagnetic metal GdB6 with electron and lattice instability

Abstract

The origin of charge transport and magnetization anisotropy was studied in GdB6, an antiferromagnetic (AF) metal (Néel temperature TN ~ 15.5 K) with cubic lattice and Gd S-type magnetic ions. Both small static Jahn-Teller distortions and nanoscale electronic instabilities (dynamic charge stripes) were found in precise low temperature X-ray diffraction measurements. The detailed magnetic field (H) vs temperature (T) phase diagrams were constructed with two main magnetic phases AF(I) and AF(II). Using the angular phi-dependences of magnetoresistance and magnetization, impeller-type patterns of the H-phi magnetic phase diagrams in the (110) and (111) planes were found at helium temperatures, which included the AF phases I and II separated from each other by radial and circular boundaries. The results argue in favor of the important role of the spin density wave 5d- component in the magnetic structure of AF(II) state. Charge fluctuations in stripes are proposed to be responsible for the suppression of the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yoshida (RKKY) indirect exchange between the first and second neighboring Gd3+ ions located along the <100> and <110> directions. These dynamic charge stripes and vibrationally coupled Gd-Gd pairs produce unusual anisotropy of charge scattering and the impeller-type diagrams in GdB6 with S-type magnetic ion.