Metastable magnetic phases induced by rotation of α-Dy2S3 single crystal in magnetic field

Abstract Metastable magnetic phases in α-Dy2S3 induced by rotation of the single crystal in a magnetic field have been investigated. The compound α-Dy2S3 possesses an orthorhombic crystal structure having two crystallographically inequivalent Dy sites and shows successive antiferromagnetic transitions at TN1 = 11.4 K and TN2 = 6.4 K associated with various steep responses in physical properties. Anomalous enhancement of the a-axis magnetization from 5.4 to 8.4 μB/Dy-atom has been found after a certain process of rotating the single crystal at 6 K around the b-axis in the magnetic field of 7 T perpendicular to the b-axis. This magnetic phase induced by rotating the single crystal has been considered as the same phase induced by cooling in the strong magnetic field of 18 T, which had been found in our previous work. Moreover, a certain process that combines rotating with cooling of the single crystal in the magnetic field gives rise to exchange of the features of the magnetization curves for the a- and c-direction. Consequently, the easy magnetization axis in the ac-plane switches to the c-axis from the a-axis.