High-field magnetic structure of the triangular antiferromagnet RbFe(MoO4)2

Abstract

The magnetic H − T phase diagram of a quasi-two-dimensional antiferromagnet RbFe(MoO4)2 (S = 5/2) with an equilateral triangular lattice structure is studied with 87 Rb NMR and neutron diffraction techniques. This combination of experimental techniques allows us to determine the ordered components of the magnetic moments on the Fe 3+ ions within various high-field phasesthe Y, UUD, V, and fan structures, stabilized in the compound by the in-plane magnetic field. It is also established that the transition from the V to the fan phase is of first-order, whereas the transition from the fan phase to the polarized paramagnetic phase is continuous. An analysis of the NMR spectra shows that the high-field fan phase of RbFe(MoO4)2 can be successfully described by a periodic commensurate oscillation of the magnetic moments around the field direction in each Fe 3+ layer combined with an incommensurate modulation of the magnetic structure perpendicular to the layers.