Antiferromagnetic structure and magnetic properties of Dy2O2Te: An isostructural analog of the rare-earth superconductors R2O2Bi

TL;DR

This study reveals the antiferromagnetic structure of Dy2O2Te, a compound related to rare-earth superconductors, and explores its magnetic properties, providing insights into the interplay between magnetism and superconductivity.

Contribution

The paper determines the magnetic order of Dy2O2Te and characterizes its magnetic properties, highlighting its antiferromagnetic structure and anomalous magnetic behaviors under magnetic fields.

Findings

Dy2O2Te exhibits A-type antiferromagnetic order below 9.7K.

Large magnetic moments of 9.4 μB per Dy are aligned in the basal plane.

Field-induced metamagnetic transitions cause anomalous magnetic behaviors.

Abstract

The rare-earth compounds R2O2Bi (R=Tb, Dy, Er, Lu, Y) are newly discovered superconductors in the vicinity of a rare-earth magnetic long-range order. In this work, we determine the magnetic order of the parent compound Dy2O2Te by neutron scattering as the A-type antiferromagnetic structure below the N\'eel temperature TN=9.7K. The large staggered magnetic moment 9.4(1) {\mu}B per Dy at T=3.5K lies in the basal ab plane. In a magnetic field, anomalous magnetic properties including the bifurcation between zero-field- and field-cooling magnetization, a butterfly-shaped magnetic hysteresis, and slow magnetic relaxation emerge, which are related to the field-induced metamagnetic transitions in Dy2O2Te. Our experimental findings could stimulate further research on the relation between antiferromagnetism and superconductivity in these rare-earth compounds.