Magnetic-field effects on Jahn-Teller distortion in ferroelastic magnetic insulator Fe_1−xMn_xCr₂O₄

Abstract

The magnetic field response of Jahn-Teller distortion associated with the e orbital was investigated by x-ray diffraction in Fe1−xMnxCr2O4 for x = 0 and 0.7. Successive structural domain rearrangements occurred when a magnetic field was applied along the [001]c axis in the orthorhombic phase of FeCr2O4. The domain rearrangements caused significant magnetostriction, which was observed by using a strain gauge. Reversible magnetostriction also appeared just above the structural transition temperature TS1 in Fe0.3Mn0.7Cr2O4, in which TS1 meets the ferrimagnetic transition temperature TN1 by Fe substitution.