A tetravalent-substituted cobalt ludwigite Co2.5Ge0.5BO5 has been synthesized using the flux
method.
The compound undergoes two magnetic transitions: a long-range antiferromagnetic
transition at T
N1 = 84 K and a metamagnetic
one at T
N2 = 36 K. The sample-oriented
magnetization measurements revealed a fully compensated magnetic moment
along the a- and c-axes and an uncompensated
one along the b-axis leading to high uniaxial anisotropy.
A field-induced enhancement of the ferromagnetic correlations at T
N2 is observed in specific heat measurements.
The DFT+GGA calculation predicts the spin configuration of (↑↓↓↑)
as a ground state with a magnetic moment of 1.37 μB/f.u. The strong hybridization of Ge(4s, 4p) with O (2p) orbitals
resulting from the high electronegativity of Ge4+ is assumed
to cause an increase in the interlayer interaction, contributing to
the long-range magnetic order. The effect of two super–superexchange
pathways Co2+-O-B-O-Co2+ and Co2+-O-M4-O-Co2+ on the magnetic state is discussed.