X-ray scattering study of the interplay between magnetism and structure in CeSb

Abstract

The chemical and magnetic structures of CeSb have been investigated using high-resolution x-ray scattering techniques. Experiments performed in the non-resonant regime (x-ray energy of E = 9.4 keV) showed that when the sample was cooled below its Néel temperature of , peaks appeared with commensurate wave vectors q. From their polarization and wave-vector dependence, the peaks are deduced to arise mainly from a periodic lattice distortion. In the resonant regime, when the x-ray energy was tuned to the L absorption edges of Ce, weak, resonantly enhanced magnetic scattering was observed at the edge (E = 6.164 keV), with no scattering found at either or . Of the six possible zero-field commensurate magnetic structures reported in earlier neutron experiments, we found the phases with and only, with the domain that has moments perpendicular to the surface absent. Neutron scattering experiments on the same single crystal confirm that the absence of the other phases is a bulk property of that particular crystal, but the absence of the domain is a feature of the near-surface region. These results are discussed in terms of the currently accepted model of the magnetic structure of CeSb.