Hidden Magnetic Complexity Within a Simple van der Waals Ferromagnet Ce2Te5
Abstract
Ce2Te5 is a layered f-electron van der Waals magnet in which reduced dimensionality and inequivalent Ce sites give rise to competing magnetic interactions. We investigate its magnetic ground state using muon spin relaxation (μSR), neutron powder diffraction (NPD), and inelastic neutron scattering (INS). Zero-field μSR reveals an onset of static magnetism below TC = 5.0(1)~K, followed by an additional anomaly in the internal field at T2 = 2.3(2)~K, consistent with features observed in bulk thermodynamic and transport measurements. In contrast, NPD data collected between 0.05−8~K reveal a single long-range ordered magnetic phase below TC, with the magnetic Bragg intensities vanishing at TC with no evidence for additional structural or magnetic phase transitions down to base temperature. The ordered state is characterized by a commensurate propagation vector k=(0,0,0) and ferromagnetic alignment of Ce moments along the crystallographic b axis. Remarkably, only one of the two crystallographically distinct Ce sites carries an ordered moment of ∼ 0.85(3) μB per Ce at 0.05~K. INS measurements establish the crystal electric field (CEF) energy scale of Ce3+, revealing low-lying excitations at 7.94 and 21.46~meV and a Kramers doublet ground state with strong single-ion anisotropy. These results demonstrate that Ce2Te5 undergoes a single symmetry-breaking magnetic transition, while additional low-temperature anomalies reflect subtle modifications of the ordered state driven by competing interactions and CEF effects.
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BibTeX
@misc{tripathi2026hidden,
title = {{Hidden Magnetic Complexity Within a Simple van der Waals Ferromagnet Ce$_2$Te$_5$}},
author = {Rajesh Tripathi and D. T. Adroja and C. Ritter and Leandro Liborio and Manuel dos Santos Dias and Leon Petit and D. Khalyavin and Yu Liu and T. Shiroka and M. Aouane and S. Langridge and S. Patil and Eric D. Bauer},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.15815},
eprint = {2609.15815},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15815},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Hidden Magnetic Complexity Within a Simple van der Waals Ferromagnet Ce_2Te_5
AU - Rajesh Tripathi
AU - D. T. Adroja
AU - C. Ritter
AU - Leandro Liborio
AU - Manuel dos Santos Dias
AU - Leon Petit
AU - D. Khalyavin
AU - Yu Liu
AU - T. Shiroka
AU - M. Aouane
AU - S. Langridge
AU - S. Patil
AU - Eric D. Bauer
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/14
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.15815
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15815
AB - Ce_2Te_5 is a layered f-electron van der Waals magnet in which reduced dimensionality and inequivalent Ce sites give rise to competing magnetic interactions. We investigate its magnetic ground state using muon spin relaxation (μSR), neutron powder diffraction (NPD), and inelastic neutron scattering (INS). Zero-field μSR reveals an onset of static magnetism below T_C = 5.0(1)~K, followed by an additional anomaly in the internal field at T_2 = 2.3(2)~K, consistent with features observed in bulk thermodynamic and transport measurements. In contrast, NPD data collected between 0.05−8~K reveal a single long-range ordered magnetic phase below T_C, with the magnetic Bragg intensities vanishing at T_C with no evidence for additional structural or magnetic phase transitions down to base temperature. The ordered state is characterized by a commensurate propagation vector k=(0,0,0) and ferromagnetic alignment of Ce moments along the crystallographic b axis. Remarkably, only one of the two crystallographically distinct Ce sites carries an ordered moment of ∼ 0.85(3) μ_B per Ce at 0.05~K. INS measurements establish the crystal electric field (CEF) energy scale of Ce^3+, revealing low-lying excitations at 7.94 and 21.46~meV and a Kramers doublet ground state with strong single-ion anisotropy. These results demonstrate that Ce_2Te_5 undergoes a single symmetry-breaking magnetic transition, while additional low-temperature anomalies reflect subtle modifications of the ordered state driven by competing interactions and CEF effects.
ER -