Magnetic anisotropy-induced spin-reorientation in spinel FeCr2S4

In this paper, the low-field magnetic behavior of polycrystalline FeCr2S4 was investigated by thermal circling the sample from 5 to 200 K at a constant magnetic field. We show that, upon cooling the sample at 50 Oe to a temperature below the Curie temperature then warming back, the magnetization displays irreversibility between cooling and warming sequence. The irreversible behavior was suppressed gradually with increasing magnetic field. By considering spin-reorientation due to the increase of magnetic anisotropy upon cooling, the irreversible behavior has been explained qualitatively. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.