# Unconventional magnetic phase separation in $\gamma$-CoV$_2$O$_6$

## TL;DR

This study reveals unconventional magnetic phase separation in $ ext{γ}$-CoV$_2$O$_6$, showing coexistence of two magnetic phases with distinct spin modulations and a temperature-induced transition, offering new insights into frustrated magnet degeneracy lifting.

## Contribution

It demonstrates that phase separation, rather than uniform magnetic order, can resolve degeneracy in frustrated magnets like $ ext{γ}$-CoV$_2$O$_6$, supported by neutron diffraction evidence.

## Key findings

- Two magnetic phases coexist with a 65:35 volume ratio.
- The minority phase undergoes an incommensurate-commensurate transition at 5.6 K.
- Phase separation provides an alternative degeneracy-lifting mechanism.

## Abstract

We have explored the magnetism in the non-geometrically frustrated spin-chain system $\gamma$-CoV$_{2}$O$_{6}$ which possesses a complex magnetic exchange network. Our neutron diffraction patterns at low temperatures ($T$ $\leqslant$ $T_{\mathrm{N}}$ = 6.6 K) are best described by a model in which two magnetic phases coexist in a volume ratio 65(1) : 35(1), with each phase consisting of a single spin modulation. This model fits previous studies and our observations better than the model proposed by Lenertz $et$ $al$ in J. Phys. Chem. C 118, 13981 (2014), which consisted of one phase with two spin modulations. By decreasing the temperature from $T_{\mathrm{N}}$, the minority phase of our model undergoes an incommensurate-commensurate lock-in transition at $T^{*}$ = 5.6 K. Based on these results, we propose that phase separation is an alternative approach for degeneracy-lifting in frustrated magnets.