Published September 1996 | Version v1
Journal article

Two-dimensional spin fluctuations of Ho3+ in HoBa2Cu3O7

  • 1. and Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule and Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland)
  • 2. Swiss Light Source Project, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerl
  • 3. Institut Laue Langevin, 156 X, F-38042 Grenoble CEDEX (France)

Description

Neutron diffraction and inelastic neutron scattering results on HoBa2Cu3O7 are presented. In the neutron diffraction experiments two-dimensional (2D) short-range order has been observed in the Ho3+ sublattice at 1.6 K, which is at a temperature far above the hyperfine-induced ordering temperature TN=190 mK. A strong enhancement of the effective susceptibility (including the hyperfine interaction) compared with a Curie-Weiss susceptibility is found above 400 mK. This enhancement explains why short-range ordering of the Ho3+ spins with an in-plane correlation length of 13 A are detectable at these temperatures. In addition, a mean-field shift of the lowest lying crystal-field transition was observed between 9 and 300 mK, which is well described within our formalism. The anisotropic line shape of this transition could be understood by a Gaussian field distribution on the Ho3+ site, originated in the dynamic 2D short-range ordering. These results are in good agreement with muon spin rotation results. copyright 1996 The American Physical Society

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Physical Review. B, Condensed Matter
Journal Volume
54
Journal Issue
10
Journal Page Range
p. 7279-7283.
ISSN
0163-1829
CODEN
PRBMDO