In this study, researchers from a large international team including ANSTO, investigated the magnetic properties of two unique 2D triangular lattice antiferromagnetic materials (2D-TLHAF)* using various neutron scattering techniques.
Multiferroic materials are being explored for use in advanced computers. Their quantum properties make them suitable for future computing applications, as they can manage and process the significantly larger volume of information more efficiently. Additionally, the unique properties of 2D magnets, such as flexibility and stackability, an ability to control layers of quantum devices or materials to create more efficient systems, have application in magnetism and spintronics.
The materials, hexagonal h-Lu0.3Y0.7MnO3 and h-Lu0.47Sc0.53FeO3, are a type of frustrated antiferromagnet, which means that the spins of the atoms in the material cannot all align in a way that minimises their energy due to the triangular arrangement of the lattice.
Lead author, instrument scientist Dr Shinichiro Yano said the materials exhibit fascinating and complex magnetic behaviours which has been difficult to investigate by conventional neutron scattering techniques.
Their unique magnetic properties and nontrivial quantum effects that can be observed and measured from the cold triple axis spectrometer Sikawith a setup of polarized neutrons and other neutron instruments at the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering.
The study, published in the American Physical Society Journal, reports two irreducible representations* to describe their magnetic structure.
“These mathematical concepts help us understand how the magnetic moments (spins) of the atoms in these materials are arranged and how they interact with each other.”
Dr Andrew Manning, Helium-3 Polarisation instrument scientist said, “Polarized neutron scattering has shown that accurately describing the magnetic structures of a 2D-TLHAF requires the use of two irreducible representations, rather than relying on the assumption that the system undergoes spin reorientation when using only one irreducible representation.”
Read more on ANSTO website