Comparative study of the structural and magnetic properties of Mn1/3NbS2 and Cr1/

Abstract

We compare the magnetism of single crystals of the intercalated transition metal dichalcogenides Cr 1/3 NbS 2 and Mn 1/3 NbS 2 using techniques such as dc and ac susceptibility and Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (LTEM). We present a detailed structural investigation of these materials using electron and single-crystal x-ray diffraction measurements to show how substitutional disorder and stacking faults can manifest in Cr 1/3 NbS 2 and Mn 1/3 NbS 2 , and give rise to additional superlattice reflections in diffraction patterns acquired from Mn 1/3 NbS 2 . Magnetic susceptibility and LTEM measurements show Cr 1/3 NbS 2 displays chiral helimagnetism below its magnetic ordering temperature (T C ) of 111 K, while there is no evidence that Mn 1/3 NbS 2 exhibits helimagnetic ordering below its transition temperature T C = 45 K.

Chiral helimagnetism and stability of magnetic textures in MnNb3S6

“…In the CSL, however, the size of the background is similar to the width of the light and dark fringes. The simulated L-TEM for the STR and the FAN states are roughly consistent with those obtained experimentally [30,37] for MnNb 3 S 6 .…”

“…[30] could probably be interpreted as the CSL in our simulations. However, the presence of surface domainlike patterns may hinder the helical structure of the state in absorption and ac susceptibility measurements [37,44]. Along a similar line, indirect measurements suggest that L(B)/L 0 has a similar behavior in MnNb 3 S 6 and in CrNb 3 S 6 [36].…”

“…Theoretical and experimental works on MnNb 3 S 6 suggest the presence of a DMI [31] and magnetic properties analogous to those observed in the isostructural compound CrNb 3 S 6 [32][33][34][35][36]. However, the presence of helimagnetic order in MnNb 3 S 6 and the role of the dipolar interaction are still a matter of debate and require further studies [33,37].…”

Consequences and Control of Multiscale Order/Disorder in Chiral Magnetic Textures

“…Our results show the large degree to which chiral helimagnetic textures in Cr 1/3 NbS 2 (and likely extended to analogous materials such as Cr 1/3 TaS 2 and Co 1/3 MS 2 (M = Nb, Ta)) ,, depend strongly on the subtle variations in single crystal synthesis and the varied effects of structural lattice disorder within Cr 1/3 NbS 2 on spin texture disorder and the coexistence of heterochirality. Our findings also shed light on, and may offer some explanations for, discrepancies within the literature, in which the properties of Cr 1/3 NbS 2 vary across different studies. ,,, Future work should leverage additional approaches, including theoretical methods, to systematically and explicitly investigate how lattice structure, exchange interactions, and vacancy distributionespecially in such dilute limitslead to the observed behaviors. Future experimental efforts should also explore additional dimensions of parameter space on the magnetic order, for example harnessing recent advances in continuously variable temperature cryogenic S/TEM sample holders to explore the impact of cooling rate or temperature cycling through the magnetic transition.…”

“…Our findings also shed light on, and may offer some explanations for, discrepancies within the literature, in which the properties of Cr 1/3 NbS 2 vary across different studies. 11,55,59,60 Future work should leverage additional approaches, including theoretical methods, to systematically and explicitly investigate how lattice structure, exchange interactions, and vacancy distribution�especially in such dilute limits�lead to the observed behaviors. Future experimental efforts should also explore additional dimensions of parameter space on the magnetic order, for example harnessing recent advances in continuously variable temperature cryogenic S/TEM sample holders 61 to explore the impact of cooling rate or temperature cycling through the magnetic transition.…”