Specific features of magnetic order in a multiferroic compound CuCrO2 determined using NMR and NQR data for 63, 65Cu nuclei

Abstract

Results of studying the paramagnetic and ordered phases of a CuCrO₂ single crystal using nuclear magnetic and nuclear quadrupole resonances on ^63,65Cu nuclei are presented. The measurements have been carried out in wide ranges of temperature (T = 4.2–300 K) and magnetic-field strength (Н = 0–94 kOe), with the magnetic fields being directed along a and c axes of the crystal. The components of the electric-field gradient tensor and the magnetic-shift tensor (K_a,c) have been determined. The temperature dependences K_a(H || a) and K_c(H || c) for the paramagnetic phase are described by the Curie–Weiss law and reproduce the behavior of the magnetic susceptibility (χ_a,c). The hyperfine field on a copper nucleus has been determined, which is equal to h_hf^a,c= 33 kOe/μB. Below the temperature Т_N = 23.6 K, nuclear magnetic resonance and nuclear quadrupole resonance spectra for ^63,65Cu nuclei have been recorded typical of helical magnetic structures, which are incommensurable with the lattice period.