High-pressure and magnetism in the quasi-one-dimensional solid solution Ca1-xNaxCr2O4: A multimodal neutron, muon, and x-ray study
Journal article, 2026
We investigate the pressure-dependent magnetism of the quasi-one-dimensional solid solution Ca1-xNaxCr2O4 using neutron diffraction, Cr K-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy, and muon spin rotation/relaxation. Na substitution is known to increase oxygen-ligand hole density (partial Cr3+ to Cr4+ character) and to drive the evolution from incommensurate order in CaCr2O4 to commensurate antiferromagnetism in NaCr2O4, suggesting a complex interplay between charge doping and structural changes. Here we apply hydrostatic pressure to tune the lattice without altering the nominal hole count, thereby separating compression effects from ligand-hole physics. For x = 0 and x = 0.5 the magnetic transition temperature is essentially pressure independent within our explored range, whereas in NaCr2O4 long-range order is progressively suppressed with pressure, as seen by a decrease of TN and of the magnetic Bragg intensity. Over the same pressure range, Cr K-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy shows no resolvable change in the average Cr valence or coordination, and the refined corner-sharing Cr–O–Cr geometry remains nearly invariant within uncertainty. Extrapolating the pressure dependence of the magnetic order parameter suggests a critical pressure Pc = 107(8) kbar for complete suppression of long-range order. These results support ligand-hole density as the primary control parameter across Ca1-xNaxCr2O4, with pressure acting as a secondary electronic tuning knob that weakens ordering in the Na-rich end member without inducing a new magnetic phase.
Author
E. Nocerino
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
Stockholm University
Hiroya Sakurai
National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)
Ola Kenji Forslund
University of Zürich
Uppsala University
Konstantinos Papadopoulos
Chalmers, Physics, Materials Physics
Deepak John Mukkattukavil
Uppsala University
Daniel Andreica
Babeș-Bolyai University
Gediminas Simutis
Paul Scherrer Institut
Rustem Khasanov
Paul Scherrer Institut
N. Ishimatsu
Ehime University
N. Kawamura
Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI)
C. L. Bull
EaStCHEM Edinburgh
STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
N. P. Funnell
STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Jun Sugiyama
Comprehensive Research Organization for Science and Society (CROSS)
I. Umegaki
High Energy Accelerator Research Organization
Yasmine Sassa
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
Martin Månsson
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
Physical Review B
2469-9950 (ISSN) 2469-9969 (eISSN)
Vol. 113 10 104414Realization of Novel Low‐Dimensional Skyrmion Systems
Swedish Research Council (VR) (2017-05078), 2019-06-01 -- 2021-12-31.
Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Condensed Matter Physics
DOI
10.1103/GPC2-FXMJ
Related datasets
Pressure dependent magnetic structure characterization of the Q1D compound NaCr2O4 [dataset]
URI: https://data.isis.stfc.ac.uk/doi/STUDY/103216471/