Magnetic phase diagrams of the Kagomé staircase compounds Co₃V₂O₈and Ni₃V₂O₈

Abstract

An extensive low temperature magnetisation study of high quality single\ncrystals of the Kagome staircase compounds Ni3V2O8 and Co3V2O8 has been\nperformed, and the H-T phase diagrams have been determined from these\nmeasurements. The magnetisation and susceptibility curves for Co3V2O8 are\nanalysed in terms of their compatibility with the different ferromagnetic and\nantiferromagnetic structures proposed for this compound. For Ni3V2O8, the phase\ndiagram is extended to magnetic fields higher than previously reported; for a\nfield applied along the a-axis, the low temperature incommensurate phase is\nfound to close at around 90 kOe.\n