Physical Review Research (Oct 2020)

Half-magnetization plateau and the origin of threefold symmetry breaking in an electrically switchable triangular antiferromagnet

  • Shannon C. Haley,
  • Sophie F. Weber,
  • Tessa Cookmeyer,
  • Daniel E. Parker,
  • Eran Maniv,
  • Nikola Maksimovic,
  • Caolan John,
  • Spencer Doyle,
  • Ariel Maniv,
  • Sanath K. Ramakrishna,
  • Arneil P. Reyes,
  • John Singleton,
  • Joel E. Moore,
  • Jeffrey B. Neaton,
  • James G. Analytis

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.043020
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2, no. 4
p. 043020

Abstract

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We perform high-field magnetization measurements on the triangular lattice antiferromagnet Fe_{1/3}NbS_{2}. We observe a plateau in the magnetization centered at approximately half the saturation magnetization over a wide range of temperature and magnetic field. From density functional theory calculations, we determine a likely set of magnetic exchange constants. Incorporating these constants into a minimal Hamiltonian model of our material, we find that the plateau and the Z_{3} symmetry-breaking ground state both arise from the competition of interplane and intraplane exchange interactions. These findings are pertinent to the magnetoelectric properties of Fe_{1/3}NbS_{2}, which allow electrical switching of antiferromagnetic textures at relatively low current densities.