A neutron diffraction study of structural and magnetic properties of monoclinic Cr5Te8

Neutron time-of-flight diffraction experiments were carried out on monoclinic m-Cr5Te8 in the temperature range from 1.5 to 300 K. A ferromagnetic long-range order occurs at around 180 K with magnetic moments being directed along the c-axis. Below 70 K a canted magnetic structure with a ferromagnetic component along the c-axis and an antiferromagnetic component in the ab-plane is observed. The temperature dependencies of the lattice parameters and of the thermal expansion tensor are clearly correlated to bulk and microscopic magnetic properties of the compound. With decreasing temperature the c-axis shows a pronounced contraction whereas the a- and b-axis exhibits a slight expansion. As a consequence of this anisotropic behaviour the Cr–Cr distance between Cr atoms of neighboured face-sharing CrTe6 octahedra is reduced with decreasing temperature indicating stronger bonding interactions.

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