We report the ground state magnetic structure and in-field magnetostrictive effects of NiTiO3 studied by means of zero field and in-field single-crystal neutron diffraction, magnetization, and high-resolution dilatometry experiments. Zero-field neutron diffraction on NiTiO3 single crystals reveals an easy-plane antiferromagnet with a multidomain ground state. Upon application of external magnetic fields, neutron diffraction shows the evolution of domains with spins perpendicular to the applied field. The rotation of spins in the multidomain state exhibits pronounced lattice changes in the magnetostriction measurements. We see magnetization and magnetostriction measurements sale with each other in the multidomain state revealing the strong coupling of spins to the lattice.
@article{arxiv.2102.09417,
title = {Magneto-structural coupling in ilmenite-type NiTiO$_3$: a combined diffraction and dilatometry study},
author = {Kaustav Dey and Sven Sauerland and Bashir Ouladdiaf and Ketty Beauvois and Hubert Wadepohl and Rüdiger Klingeler},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2102.09417},
year = {2021}
}