Itinerant antiferromagnetism in the antagonistic pair compound Y$_4$Co$_3$Ag

TL;DR

This study reports the discovery of Y$_4$Co$_3$Ag, a low-dimensional compound exhibiting itinerant antiferromagnetism with strong fluctuations, making it a promising candidate for exploring quasi-one-dimensional magnetic interactions.

Contribution

The paper introduces a new low-dimensional compound, Y$_4$Co$_3$Ag, and characterizes its itinerant antiferromagnetic properties and potential for studying magnetic fluctuations in quasi-one-dimensional systems.

Findings

Y$_4$Co$_3$Ag orders antiferromagnetically at 14.9 K.

Small ordered magnetic moment less than 0.2 μ_B per Co.

Presence of strong magnetic fluctuations and itinerant moments.

Abstract

Low dimensional crystallographic motifs have long been associated with desirable physical properties. The confinement of electrons to low dimensions is thought to enhance quantum fluctuations and may promote correlated phenomena. Here, using the antagonistic pair concept, we add Y to the immiscible Co-Ag pair to discover Y$_4$Co$_3$Ag. This compound adopts a monoclinic $I$2/$m$ structure consisting of Y channels that are filled by one-dimensional zigzag and hexagonal Co chains, which extend along the crystallographic $b$-axis with no nearest neighbor contacts between Co and Ag atoms. Transport, magnetic, and specific heat measurements reveal that Y$_4$Co$_3$Ag orders antiferromagnetically at $T_N=14.9$ K with an effective magnetic moment $\mu_{\text{eff}}$ = 1.4 $\mu_{\text{B}}$/Co. Specific heat measurements show only a small entropy loss on the order of $0.1\,R\ln2$ associated with magnetic order, and magnetization isotherms, in DC fields up to 70 kOe at 1.8 K and in pulsed fields up to 600 kOe at 500 mK, indicate a small ordered moment of less than 0.2 $\mu_B$/Co. Taken together, our results imply the presence of small, itinerant moments and strong fluctuations in Y$_4$Co$_3$Ag, suggesting that Y$_4$Co$_3$Ag may be a promising candidate material to investigate itinerant magnetic interactions in a quasi-one dimensional system.