National Institute for Materials Science, Sengen 1-2-1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0047, Japan.
Institut Laue Langevin, CS 20156, 38042, Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
Nat Commun. 2018 Oct 22;9(1):4368. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-06737-6.
The analysis of three-dimensional neutron spin polarization vectors, using a technique referred to as spherical neutron polarimetry (SNP), is a very powerful means of determining complex magnetic structures in magnetic materials. However, the requirement to maintain neutrons in a highly polarized state has made it difficult to use this technique in conjunction with extreme experimental conditions. We have developed a high pressure cell made completely of nonmagnetic materials and having no effect on neutron polarizations. Herein, we report the first SNP analyses under high pressure up to 4.0 GPa in the magnetoelectric multiferroic delafossite CuFeO. This study also determined the complex spiral magnetic structures in these pressure-induced phases, by measuring the full neutron polarization matrix. The results presented herein demonstrate that the SNP measurements are feasible under high pressure conditions, and that this method is a useful approach to study pressure-induced physical phenomena.
利用一种称为球形中子极化（SNP）的技术分析三维中子自旋极化矢量，是确定磁性材料中复杂磁结构的一种非常有效的手段。然而，为了保持中子处于高度极化状态，使得难以将这种技术与极端实验条件结合使用。我们开发了一种完全由非磁性材料制成且对中子极化没有影响的高压腔。在此，我们报告了首例在高达 4.0 GPa 的高压下进行的磁电多铁性铜铁矿 CuFeO 的 SNP 分析。通过测量完整的中子极化矩阵，本研究还确定了这些压力诱导相中的复杂螺旋磁结构。本文的结果表明，SNP 测量在高压条件下是可行的，并且该方法是研究压力诱导物理现象的有用方法。
