Magnetic Field-Driven Spin-Flop Transition in Orthorhombic GdGa

Structural and magnetic properties of GdGa are investigated using the combined results of X-ray diffraction and magnetization. DC magnetization measurements were carried out on as-cast and annealed specimens. Although, no considerable changes in the crystal parameters are observed by the effect of annealing, the change in the magnetic behavior is discernible. The low-temperature state is found to be simple antiferromagnetic with prevailing ferromagnetic exchange interactions in the paramagnetic state. The mismatch between the experimentally obtained effective magnetic moment of Gd in GdGa and the effective magnetic moment of ${\text{Gd}}^{+3}$ is attributed to the presence of finite-sizable spin–orbit coupling. Moreover, the weakly correlated antiferromagnetic low-temperature ground state can be easily tuned to the ferromagnetic state through a spin-flop process.