title: Evolution of the commensurate and incommensurate magnetic phases of the S = 3/2 kagome staircase Co₃V₂O₈ in an applied field.
abstract: Single crystal neutron diffraction studies have been performed on the S = 3/2 kagome staircase compound Co(3)V(2)O(8) with a magnetic field applied along the magnetization easy-axis ([Formula: see text]). Previous zero-field measurements (Chen Y et al 2006 Phys. Rev. B 74 014430) reported a rich variety of magnetic phases, with a ferromagnetic ground state as well as incommensurate, transversely polarized spin density wave (SDW) phases (with a propagation vector of [Formula: see text]) interspersed with multiple commensurate lock-in transitions. The magnetic phase diagram with [Formula: see text] adds further complexity. For small applied fields, μ(0)H ≈ 0.05 T, the commensurate lock-in phases are destabilized in favor of the incommensurate SDW ones, while slightly larger applied fields restore the commensurate lock-in phase with δ = 1/2 and yield a new commensurate phase with δ = 2/5. For measurements in an applied field, higher-order scattering is observed that corresponds to the second harmonic.
authors.affiliation: NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, USA. joel.helton@nist.gov
authors.forename: Joel S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Helton
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Georgii L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Bychkov
authors.forename: Sergei N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Barilo
authors.forename: Nyrissa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rogado
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Cava
authors.forename: Jeffrey W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lynn