Magnetic structures of Fe32+δGe33As2 and Fe32+δ′Ge35−xPx intermetallic compounds: a neutron diffraction and 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy study

Abstract

Fe_32+δGe₃₃As₂ and Fe_32+δ′Ge_35−xP_x are quasi-binary intermetallic compounds that possess a rare variant of intergrowth-type crystal structure, which is a combination of the column shaped Co₂Al₅ and MgFe₆Ge₆ structure type blocks. The compounds are antiferromagnets with the Néel temperatures around 125 K. Neutron powder diffraction experiments on the samples with δ ≈ 0.1, δ′ ≈ 0.5 and x ≈ 3 reveal commensurate magnetic ordering of low symmetry in both compounds and a non-monotonic change in the intensities of magnetic reflections. On the other hand, temperature dependence of the hyperfine fields obtained from ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy indicates a gradual, monotonic increase in local magnetic fields upon cooling. We interpret these results as a spin reorientation within the Co₂Al₅-type block of the crystal structure, with the possible formation of a non-collinear magnetic order at low temperatures. Between the compounds, the reorientation occurs at significantly different temperatures, however the resulting magnetic structures themselves are similar as well as the average values of the magnetic moments and the hyperfine fields.