Field evolution of the multi-$k$ magnetic states in NdB$_4$ revealed by neutron diffraction

Abstract

We investigate the magnetic states of the Shastry-Sutherland-lattice magnet NdB$_4$ using single-crystal neutron diffraction. We focus on magnetic fields applied along the tetragonal $c$ axis, which stabilise the fractional 1/5~magnetisation plateau. In the low-temperature phase below 4.9 K, the transition into the plateau state at approximately 12 kOe is marked by a change in the propagation vectors from $(1/5,0,-2/5)$ and its double $(2/5,0,1/5)$ to $(0,0,1/5)$ and $(0,0,2/5)$. At the transition from the plateau to a nominally `field-polarised' state near 33 kOe, all magnetic reflections associated with non-integer propagation vectors disappear, whereas reflections corresponding to the $\mathbf{k}=0$ component persist throughout the entire field range. We conclude that that the in-plane components survive even in the high-field phase and that the polarisation is, in fact, incomplete. The observed field dependence provides direct support for a description of NdB$_4$ in terms of two coupled magnetic instabilities: all-in-all-out order of the in-plane moments and a spin-density wave of the out-of-plane components.