We report on the CrFeTi2O7 (CFTO) system using a combination of x-ray diffraction, dc magnetization, ac susceptibility, specific heat and neutron diffraction measurements. CFTO is seen to crystallize in a monoclinic P21/a symmetry. It shows a glassy freezing at Tf ~ 22 K, characterized by the observation of bifurcation between ZFC and FC χ (T) curves, frequency dispersion across Tf in ac susceptibility, appearance of non-zero remanent magnetization and coercivity below Tf, very slow relaxation of iso-thermal remanent magnetization with time and a linear temperature dependence of magnetic contribution to specific heat Cm below Tf. The microscopic neutron diffraction analysis of CFTO not only confirms the absence of long-range antiferromagnetic ordering but also exhibits diffuse scattering due to the presence of shortrange ordered antiferromagnetically correlated spin clusters.
@article{arxiv.2401.08029,
title = {Freezing of short-range ordered antiferromagnetic clusters in the CrFeTi$_2$O$_7$ system},
author = {Arun Kumar and Soumendra Nath Panja and Lukas Keller and Sunil Nair},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2401.08029},
year = {2024}
}