Unconventional critical behaviors at the magnetic phase transition of Co3Sn2S2 kagomé ferromagnet. (13th October 2020) - Kassem, Mohamed A
Abstract: Co3 Sn2 S2 has generated a growing interest as a rare example of the highly uniaxial anisotropic kagomé ferromagnet showing a combination of frustrated-lattice magnetism and topology. Recently, via precise measurements of the magnetization and AC susceptibility we have found a low-field anomalous magnetic phase (A-phase) with very slow spin dynamics that appears just below the Curie temperature ( T C ). The A-phase hosts high-density domain bubbles after cooling through T C as revealed in a previous in-situ Lorentz-TEM study. Here, we present further signatures of the anomalous magnetic transition (MT) at T C revealed by a study of the critical behaviors of the magnetization and magnetocaloric effect using a high-quality single crystal. Analyses of numerous magnetization isotherms around T C (≃177 K) using different approaches (the modified Arrot plot, Kouvel–Fisher method and magnetocaloric effect) result in consistent critical exponents that do not satisfy the theoretical predictions of standard second-order-MT models. Scaling analyses for the magnetization, magnetic entropy change and field-exponent of the magnetic entropy change, all consistently show low-field deviations below T C from the universal curves. Our results reveal that the MT of Co3 Sn2 S2 can not be explained as a conventional second-order type and suggest an anomalous magnetic state below T C .