Magnetic Order of Dresselhaus-type Antiferromagnet EuIr$_4$In$_2$Ge$_4$ Studied by Single Crystal Neutron Diffraction

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic structure of EuIr4In2Ge4 using neutron diffraction, revealing a collinear antiferromagnetic order with moments in the basal plane and a simple magnetic structure despite Dresselhaus-type spin splitting.

Contribution

The paper provides detailed neutron diffraction analysis of EuIr4In2Ge4's magnetic order, highlighting its simple antiferromagnetic structure and weak coupling with conduction electrons.

Findings

Antiferromagnetic Bragg reflections with q = (1, 0, 0) below 2.5 K

Eu2+ moments lie within the basal plane and are collinear and antiparallel

Magnetic order remains simple despite Dresselhaus-type spin splitting

Abstract

The magnetic order of EuIr$_4$In$_2$Ge$_4$, which crystallizes in a Dresselhaus-type noncentrosymmetric tetragonal structure, was investigated using two complementary single-crystal neutron diffraction approaches. Time-of-flight single-crystal diffraction reveals antiferromagnetic Bragg reflections with propagation vector $q = (1, 0, 0)$ below the N\'{e}el temperature $T_{\rm N}$ = 2.5 K, indicating a breaking of body-centered translational symmetry. Polarized neutron diffraction on a triple-axis spectrometer demonstrates that the ordered Eu$^{2+}$ $4f$ moments lie within the basal plane and form a collinear antiferromagnetic structure with antiparallel alignment between corner and body-center sites. Despite the Dresselhaus-type spin splitting in the conduction bands, the magnetic order remains simple, implying weak coupling between localized moments and itinerant electrons.