Negative thermal expansion and magnetoelastic coupling in the breathing pyrochlore lattice material LiGaCr4S8

Pokharel, G.; May, A. F.; Parker, D. S.; Calder, S.; Ehlers, G.; Huq, A.; Kimber, S. A.  J.; Arachchige, H. Suriya; Poudel, L.; McGuire, M. A.; Mandrus, D.; Christianson, A. D.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.97.134117

Negative thermal expansion and magnetoelastic coupling in the breathing pyrochlore lattice material ${LiGaCr}_{4} S_{8}$

Journal Article · Mon Apr 30 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Physical Review B

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.97.134117· OSTI ID:1435213

Pokharel, G. ^[1]; May, A. F. ^[2]; Parker, D. S. ^[2]; Calder, S. ^[3]; Ehlers, G. ^[4]; Huq, A. ^[3]; Kimber, S. A. J. ^[3]; Arachchige, H. Suriya ^[1]; Poudel, L. ^[5]; McGuire, M. A. ^[2]; Mandrus, D. ^[6]; Christianson, A. D. ^[7]

Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Neutron Scattering Division
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Materials Science and Technology Division
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Neutron Scattering Division
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Neutron Technologies Division
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Neutron Scattering Division; Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States). NIST Center for Neutron Research
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy. Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Materials Science and Technology Division
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Materials Science and Technology Division. Neutron Scattering Division; Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy

In this paper, the physical properties of the spinel LiGaCr₄S₈ have been studied with neutron diffraction, x-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility, and heat capacity measurements. The neutron diffraction and synchrotron x-ray diffraction data reveal negative thermal expansion (NTE) below 111(4) K. The magnetic susceptibility deviates from Curie-Weiss behavior with the onset of NTE. At low temperature a broad peak in the magnetic susceptibility at 10.3(3) K is accompanied by the return of normal thermal expansion. First-principles calculations find a strong coupling between the lattice and the simulated magnetic ground state. Finally, these results indicate strong magnetoelastic coupling in LiGaCr₄S₈.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (United States); USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357; AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1435213

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1435378

Journal Information:: Physical Review B, Journal Name: Physical Review B Journal Issue: 13 Vol. 97; ISSN 2469-9950

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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