Absolute crystal and magnetic chiralities in the langasite compound Ba3NbFe3Si2 O14 determined by polarized neutron and x-ray scattering

N. Qureshi, A. Bombardi, S. Picozzi, P. Barone, E. Lelièvre-Berna, X. Xu, C. Stock, D. F. McMorrow, A. Hearmon, F. Fabrizi, P. G. Radaelli, S. W. Cheong, L. C. Chapon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present a combined polarized neutron and x-ray scattering study on two enantiopure langasite single crystals aimed at the determination of their absolute structural and magnetic chiralities and the coupling between them. Our respective data sets unambiguously reveal two samples of opposite structural chirality, where the magnetic handedness is pinned by the structural one. Simple energy considerations of the magnetic exchange and single-ion anisotropy parameters reveal that it is not the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction but the local single-ion anisotropy on a triangular plaquette which plays a key role in stabilizing one of the two magnetic helices.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere054417
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume102
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1 2020
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Physical Society.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Absolute crystal and magnetic chiralities in the langasite compound Ba3NbFe3Si2 O14 determined by polarized neutron and x-ray scattering'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this