Magnetically driven loss of centrosymmetry in metallic Pb2CoOsO6

Journal article

We report magnetic, transport, neutron diffraction, and muon spin rotation data showing that Pb2CoOsO6, a metallic double-perovskite with a centrosymmetric space group at room temperature exhibits a continuous second-order phase transition at 45 K to a magnetically ordered state with a noncentrosymmetric space group. The absence of inversion symmetry is very uncommon in metals, particularly metallic oxides. In contrast to the recently reported ferroelectriclike structural transition in LiOsO3, the phase transition in Pb2CoOsO6 is driven by a long-range collinear antiferromagnetic order, with propagation vector k=(12,0,12), which relieves the frustration associated with the symmetry of the magnetic exchanges. This magnetically driven loss of inversion symmetry represents another frontier in the search for novel metallic behavior.

Authors: Princep, AJ; Feng, HL; Guo, YF; Lang, F; Weng, HM

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: PHYSICAL REVIEW B
• Volume: 102
• Issue: 10
• Article number: ARTN 104410
• Publication date: 2020-09-08
• Acceptance date: 2020-07-30
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.102.104410
• EISSN: 2469-9969
• ISSN: 2469-9950