Magnetic phase diagram and multiple field-induced states in the intermetallic triangular-lattice antiferromagnet NdAuAl 4 Ge 2 with Ising-like spins
Geometrical frustration and the enhancement of strong quantum fluctuations in two-dimensional triangular antiferromagnets can lead to various intriguing phenomena. Here, in this work, we studied the spin-1/2 triangular lattice antiferromagnet NdAuAl 4 Ge 2 . Thermodynamic and transport properties, such as magnetization and specific heat together with the resistivity measurements were performed. In zero field, two successive phase transitions were observed at T N1 = 1.75 ± 0.02 and T N2 = 0.49 ± 0.02 K, respectively. Under magnetic field, XXZ-type anisotropy was revealed with the moments pointing along the easy c axis. For B∥c, multiple field-induced states were observed, and the magnetic phase diagram was established based on the specific-heat and magnetization data. The temperature-dependent resistivity measurements indicate that NdAuAl 4 Ge 2 is a good metal. It is very likely that both the long-range Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interactions and the geometrical frustration play important roles in this case.