Field-induced spin-flop transitions in single-crystalline CaCo2As2

CaCo2As2, a ThCr2Si2-structure compound, undergoes an antiferromagnetic transition at T-N = 76 K with the magnetic moments being aligned parallel to the c axis. Electronic transport measurement reveals that the coupling between conducting carriers and magnetic order in CaCo2As2 is much weaker compared to the parent compounds of iron pnictide. Applying magnetic field along the c axis induces two successive spin-flop transitions in its magnetic state. The magnetization saturation behaviors with H parallel to c and H parallel to ab at 10 K indicate that the antiferromagnetic coupling along the c direction is very weak. The interlayer antiferromagntic coupling constant J(c) is estimated to be about 2 meV.