Direct evidence of long-range ordering of reduced magnetic moments in the spin-gap compound CeOs2Al10 through muon spin relaxation investigations

TL;DR

This study provides direct evidence of long-range magnetic ordering of Ce moments in CeOs2Al10 below 28 K, using muon spin relaxation and neutron scattering, revealing a spin gap and complex magnetic behavior.

Contribution

It offers the first direct muSR evidence of magnetic ordering and characterizes the spin gap in CeOs2Al10, advancing understanding of its magnetic properties.

Findings

Muon spin relaxation shows magnetic order below 28 K.

Inelastic neutron scattering detects an 11 meV spin gap.

Neutron diffraction does not show magnetic Bragg peaks.

Abstract

We have carried out neutron diffraction, muon spin relaxation (muSR) and inelastic neutron scattering investigations on a polycrystalline sample of CeOs2Al10 to investigate the nature of the phase transition observed near 29 K in the resistivity and heat capacity. Our muSR data clearly reveal coherent frequency oscillations below 28 K, indicating the presence of an internal field at the muon site, which confirms the long-range magnetic ordering of the Ce-moment below 28 K. Upon cooling the sample below 15 K, unusual behaviour of the temperature dependent muSR frequencies may indicate either a change of the muon site, consistent with the observation of superstructure reflections in electron diffraction or a change of the ordered magnetic structure. Neutron diffraction data do not reveal any clear sign of either magnetic Bragg peaks or superlattice reflections. Furthermore, inelastic neutron scattering (INS) measurements clearly reveal the presence of a sharp inelastic excitation near 11 meV between 5 K and 26 K, due to opening of a gap in the spin excitation spectrum, which transforms into a broad response at and above 30 K. The magnitude of the spin-gap (11 meV) as derived from the INS peak position agrees very well with the gap value as estimated from the bulk properties.