Half-magnetization plateaux in Cr spinels

TL;DR

This paper reviews the observation of a robust half-magnetization plateau in certain Cr spinel oxides, explaining its origin through experimental data and a simple coupled lattice-spin model.

Contribution

It provides an overview of experimental findings and demonstrates how lattice coupling naturally leads to the half-magnetization plateau in Cr spinels.

Findings

Robust half-magnetization plateau observed in CdCr2O4 and HgCr2O4

Lattice distortion accompanies the plateau

Simple coupled model explains the plateau formation

Abstract

Magnetization plateaux, visible as anomalies in magnetic susceptibility at low temperatures, are one of the hallmarks of frustrated magnetism. An extremely robust half-magnetization plateau is observed in the spinel oxides CdCr2O4 and HgCr2O4, where it is accompanied by a substantial lattice distortion. We give an overview of the present state experiment for CdCr2O4 and HgCr2O4, and show how such a half-magnetization plateau arises quite naturally in a simple model of these systems, once coupling to the lattice is taken into account.