Observation of long range magnetic order in the reentrant superconductor HoMo6S8

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Abstract
High resolution small-angle neutron scattering experiments have been carried out on HoMo6S8 to investigate the magnetic behaviour in the vicinity of the reentrant superconducting transition. With decreasing temperature a single magnetic Bragg peak develops below TM = 0.75 K at a wavevector Qc = 0.030 Å-1, demonstrating that a transversely-polarized, periodic magnetic structure has formed with a characteristic period of 200 Å. With further decrease of temperature additional scattering develops at smaller wavevectors, and the Bragg peak intensity decreases, as the transition to the ferromagnetic state proceeds and superconductivity is destroyed. The spectrum of scattering below 0.71 K has no peak in the range 0.002 < Q < 0.063 Å-1. On warming from low temperatures no peak is found at finite Q at any temperature. However, near the reentrant superconducting transition there is an enhancement of the scattered intensity for Q ∼ 0.025 Å-1