Exploring metamagnetism of single crystalline EuNiGe3 by neutron scattering

Abstract

We present here a neutron diffraction study, both in zero field and as a function of magnetic field, of the magnetic structure of the tetragonal intermetallic EuNiGe3 on a single crystalline sample. This material is known to undergo a cascade of transitions, first at 13.2 K towards an incommensurate modulated magnetic structure, then at 10.5 K to an antiferromagnetic structure. We show here that the low-temperature phase presents a spiral moment arrangement with wave vector k=(14,δ,0). For a magnetic field applied along the tetragonal c axis, the square root of the scattering intensity of the (1 0 1) reflection matches very well the complex metamagnetic behavior of the magnetization along c measured previously. For the magnetic field applied along the b axis, two magnetic transitions are observed below the transition to a fully polarized state.