Magnetic structures of $\delta$-O$_2$ resulting from competition of interplane exchange interactions

TL;DR

This paper investigates how competition among interplane exchange interactions influences the magnetic structures of high-pressure δ-phase solid oxygen, revealing temperature-driven phase transitions linked to changes in interplane distances.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of interplane exchange interactions and their role in the magnetic structure variations of δ-O₂ under pressure and temperature.

Findings

Temperature variation can induce magnetic phase transitions.

Interplane exchange interactions can compensate, leading to different magnetic structures.

Magnetic ordering changes are linked to step-wise variations in interplane distances.

Abstract

Solid oxygen is a unique molecular crystal whose phase diagram is mostly imposed by magnetic ordering, i.e., each crystal phase has a specific magnetic structure. However, recent experiments showed that high-pressure $\delta$-phase is implemented in different magnetic structures. In the present paper we study the role of interplane exchange interactions in formation of the magnetic structures with different stacking sequences of the close-packed planes. We show that temperature-induced variation of intermolecular distances can give rise to compensation of the exchange coupling between the nearest close-packed planes and result in the phase transition between different magnetic structures within $\delta$-O$_2$. Variation of the magnetic ordering is, in turn, accompanied by the step-wise variation of interplane distance governed by space and angular dependence of interplane exchange constants.