Magnetic Properties and Magnetic Phase Diagrams of Trigonal DyNi₃Ga₉

Abstract

We report the crystal structure, magnetic properties, and magnetic phase diagrams of single crystalline DyNi3Ga9 studied using X-ray diffraction, electrical resistivity, specific heat, and magnetization measurements. DyNi3Ga9 crystallizes in the chiral structure with space group R32. The dysprosium ions, which are responsible for the magnetism in this compound, form a two-dimensional honeycomb structure on a (0001) plane. We show that DyNi3Ga9 exhibits successive phase transitions at TN = 10 K and \(T'_{\text{N}} = 9\) K. The former suggests quadrupolar ordering, and the latter is attributed to the antiferromagnetic order. It is considered that DyNi3Ga9 forms the canted-antiferromagnetic structure below \(T'_{\text{N}}\) owing to a small hysteresis loop of the low-field magnetization curve. We observe the strong easy-plane anisotropy, and the multiple-metamagnetic transitions with magnetization-plateaus under the field applied along the honeycomb plane. For \(H\parallel [2\bar{1}\bar{1}0]\), the plateau-region arises every 1/6 for saturation magnetization. The magnetic phase diagrams of DyNi3Ga9 are determined for the fields along principal-crystal axes.