Magnetic properties and magnetic structure of the frustrated quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnet SrCuTe2O6

Magnetization measurements on single-crystal cubic $\mathrm{Sr}\mathrm{Cu}{\mathrm{Te}}₂{\mathrm{O}}₆$ with an applied magnetic field along three inequivalent high symmetry directions [100], [110], and [111] reveal weak magnetic anisotropy. The fits of the magnetic susceptibility to the result from a quantum Monte Carlo simulation on the Heisenberg spin-chain model, where the chain is formed via the dominant third-nearest-neighbor exchange interaction ${J}₃$, yield the intrachain interaction $({J}₃/{k}_B)$ between 50.12(7) K for the applied field along [110] and 52.5(2) K along [100] with about the same $g$ factor of 2.2. Single-crystal neutron diffraction unveils the transition to the magnetic ordered state as evidenced by the onset of the magnetic Bragg intensity at ${T}_{\text{N1}}=5.25(9)\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{K}$ with no anomaly of the second transition at ${T}_{\text{N2}}$ reported previously. Based on irreducible representation theory and magnetic space group analysis of powder and single-crystal neutron diffraction data, the magnetic structure in the Shubnikov space group $P{4}₁32$, where the ${\mathrm{Cu}}²⁺\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}S=1/2$ spins antiferromagnetically align in the direction perpendicular to the spin chain, is proposed. The measured ordered moment of $0.52(6)\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{\ensuremath{\mu}}_B$, which represents 48% reduction from the expected value of $1\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{\ensuremath{\mu}}_B$, suggests the remaining influence of frustration resulting from the ${J}₁$ and ${J}₂$ bonds.