Abstract
Using the analysis of the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the magnetization (M) measured in the temperature range of 1.5 K to 400 K in magnetic fields up to 250 kOe, the magnetic field-temperature (H–T) phase diagram, tricritical point and exchange constants of the antiferromagnetic MnTa2O6 are determined in this work. X-ray diffraction/Rietveld refinement and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of the polycrystalline MnTa2O6 sample verified its phase purity. Temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility χ (=M/H) yields the Néel temperature T N = 5.97 K determined from the peak in the computed ∂(χT)/∂T vs T plot, in agreement with the T N = 6.00 K determined from the peak in the C P vs T data. The experimental data of C P vs T near T N is fitted to C P = A|T − T N|−α yielding the critical exponent α = 0.10(0.13) for T > T N (T < T N). The χ vs T data for T > 25 K fits well with the modified Curie–Weiss law: χ = χ 0 + C/(T − θ) with χ 0 = −2.12 × 10−4 emu mol−1 Oe−1 yielding θ = −24 K, and C = 4.44 emu K mol−1 Oe−1, the later giving magnetic moment μ = 5.96 μ B per Mn2+ ion. This yields the effective spin S = 5/2 and g = 2.015 for Mn2+, in agreement with g = 2.0155 measured using electron spin resonance spectroscopy. Using the magnitudes of θ and T N and molecular field theory, the antiferromagnetic exchange constants J 0/k B = −1.5 ± 0.2 K and J ⊥/k B = −0.85 ± 0.05 K for Mn2+ ions along the chain c-axis and perpendicular to the c-axis respectively are determined. The χ vs T data when compared to the prediction of a Heisenberg linear chain model provides semiquantitative agreement with the observed variation. The H–T phase diagram is mapped using the M–H isotherms and M–T data at different H yielding the tricritical point T TP (H, T) = (17.0 kOe, 5.69 K) separating the paramagnetic, antiferromagnetic, and spin-flop phases. At 1.5 K, the experimental magnitudes of the exchange field H E = 206.4 kOe and spin-flop field H SF = 23.5 kOe yield the anisotropy field H A = 1.34 kOe. These results for MnTa2O6 are compared with those reported recently in the isostructural MnNb2O6.
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