Magnetic Structure of EuTiO3

Abstract

Europium titanate has the cubic perovskite structure containing divalent Eu (7 μB) and tetravalent Ti. From magnetic measurements we find that EuTiO3 is one of the few antiferromagnetic materials with a positive θ (TN=5.3°K, θ=3.8°K). At 1.3°K the magnetic moment (σ) increases linearly with field to 10 kOe; above 14 kOe the moment saturates and σ=156 emu/gm (6.93 μB) at 20 kOe. Powder neutron-diffraction work indicates that EuTiO3 has the Type G magnetic structure in which a given Eu++ has six nearest-neighbor europium ions antiparallel and 12 next-nearest-neighbor europium ions parallel. In a perovskite structure where only the 12-coordinated ion is magnetic, i.e., Eu++, the molecular field relations for a two sublattice model yield J1/k=−0.021°K, where J1 is the effective intersublattice exchange interaction, and J2/k=0.040°K, where J2 is the effective intrasublattice exchange interaction. The signs of J1 and J2 are opposite to those found in the europium chalcogenide series. The chalcogenides, however, have the rocksalt structure in which the number of 90° cation-anion-cation interactions differs from the perovskite structure.