Magnetic structure of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mi>Ce</mml:mi><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:msub><mml:msub><mml:mi>TiBi</mml:mi><mml:mn>5</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math> and its relation to current-induced magnetization
N. Gauthier, Romain Sibille, Vladimir Pomjakushin, Øystein S. Fjellvåg, J. Fraser, Mathieu Desmarais, A. Bianchi, J. A. Quilliam
Abstract
The control of magnetization using electric fields has been extensively studied in magnetoelectric multiferroic insulating materials while changes in magnetization in bulk metals caused by electric currents have attracted less attention. The recently discovered metallic magnet ${\mathrm{Ce}}_{3}{\mathrm{TiBi}}_{5}$ has been reported to exhibit current-induced magnetization. Here we determined the magnetic structure of ${\mathrm{Ce}}_{3}{\mathrm{TiBi}}_{5}$ using neutron diffraction, aiming to understand the microscopic origin of this magnetoelectric phenomenon in a metal. We established that the antiferromagnetic order emerging below ${T}_{N}=5\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$ is a cycloid order described by $P{6}_{3}/mcm.{1}^{\ensuremath{'}}(0,0,g)00sss$ with small moment sizes of $0.50(2)\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}{\ensuremath{\mu}}_{B}$ and propagation vector $\mathbf{k}=(0,0,0.386)$. Surprisingly, the symmetry of this magnetic structure is inconsistent with the presence of current-induced magnetization and potential origins of this inconsistency with previous results are discussed. Additionally, our results suggest that moments order along their hard magnetic direction in ${\mathrm{Ce}}_{3}{\mathrm{TiBi}}_{5}$, a phenomenon which has been observed in other Kondo systems.