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Short-range magnetic interactions and spin-glass behavior in the quasi-two-dimensional nickelate Pr4Ni3O8

Published inPhysical review. B, vol. 102, no. 5, 054423
Publication date2020-08-17
First online date2020-08-17
Abstract

The nickelate Pr4Ni3O8 features quasi-two-dimensional layers consisting of three stacked square-planar NiO2 planes, in a similar way to the well-known cuprate superconductors. The mixed-valent nature of Ni and its metallic properties makes it a candidate for potentially unconventional superconductivity. We have synthesized Pr4Ni3O8 by topotactic reduction of Pr4Ni3O10 in 10% hydrogen gas, and report on measurements of powder-neutron diffraction, magnetization, and muon-spin rotation (µSR). We find that Pr4Ni3O8 shows complicated spin-glass behavior with a distinct magnetic memory effect in the temperature range from 2 to 300 K and a freezing temperature Ts ≈ 68K. Moreover, the analysis of µSR spectra indicates two magnetic processes characterized by remarkably different relaxation rates: a slowly relaxing signal, resulting from paramagnetic fluctuations of Pr/Ni ions, and a fast-relaxing signal, whose relaxation rate increases substantially below ≈ 70K which can be ascribed to the presence of short-range correlated regions. We conclude that the complex spin-freezing process in Pr4Ni3O8 is governed by these multiple magnetic interactions. It is possible that the complex magnetism in Pr4Ni3O8 is detrimental to the occurrence of superconductivity.

Keywords
  • Magnetism
  • Superconductivity
  • Spin glasses
  • Muon spin relaxation & rotation
Affiliation entities Not a UNIGE publication
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Citation (ISO format)
HUANGFU, Shangxiong et al. Short-range magnetic interactions and spin-glass behavior in the quasi-two-dimensional nickelate Pr4Ni3O8. In: Physical review. B, 2020, vol. 102, n° 5, p. 054423. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevB.102.054423
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Additional URL for this publicationhttps://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.102.054423
Journal ISSN2469-9950
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