Magnetic ground state of the Ising-like antiferromagnet DyScO$_3$

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic ground state of DyScO$_3$, revealing an Ising-like antiferromagnetic order below 3.15 K with strong anisotropy and dominant dipolar interactions along the c-axis.

Contribution

The paper provides detailed experimental characterization of DyScO$_3$'s magnetic structure and anisotropy, highlighting its Ising ground state and anisotropic dipolar interactions, which were not previously well understood.

Findings

Dy$^{3+}$ moments form an antiferromagnetic structure below 3.15 K.

Dy$^{3+}$ ground state is a Kramers doublet with strong Ising anisotropy.

Dipolar interactions along the c-axis are significantly larger than in-plane interactions.

Abstract

We report the low temperature magnetic properties of the DyScO$_3$ perovskite, which were characterized by means of single crystal and powder neutron scattering, and by magnetization measurements. Below $T_{\mathrm{N}}=3.15$ K, Dy$^{3+}$ moments form an antiferromagnetic structure with an easy axis of magnetization lying in the $ab$-plane. The magnetic moments are inclined at an angle of $\sim\pm{28}^{\circ}$ to the $b$-axis. We show that the ground state Kramers doublet of Dy$^{3+}$ is made up of primarily $|\pm 15/2\rangle$ eigenvectors and well separated by crystal field from the first excited state at $E_1=24.9$ meV. This leads to an extreme Ising single-ion anisotropy, $M_{\perp}/M_{\|}\sim{0.05}$. The transverse magnetic fluctuations, which are proportional to $M^{2}_{\perp}/M^{2}_{\|}$, are suppressed and only moment fluctuations along the local Ising direction are allowed. We also found that the Dy-Dy dipolar interactions along the crystallographic $c$-axis are 2-4 times larger than in-plane interactions.