High magnetic field phase diagram and weak ferromagnetic moment breaking in (Ni_0.93Co_0.07)₃V₂O₈

We present magnetostriction and thermal expansion measurements on multiferroic (Ni0.93Co0.07)(3)V2O8. The high field phase diagrams up to 33 T along the a, b, and c directions are built. For H || a, as the magnetic field increasing, two intermediate phases appear between the incommensurate phase and the paramagnetic phase at about 7 K, and then a magnetically induced phase appears above the paramagnetic phase. For H || b, a thermal expansion measurement indicates a mutation in the spin lattice coupling of the high field phases. The interlaced phase boundary suggests a mixed state in the optical high field phase. For H || c, an intermediate phase between the commensurate phase and the incommensurate phase is detected. A nonlinear boundary between the intermediate phase and the low-temperature incommensurate phase, and a clear boundary between the commensurate phase and the paramagnetic phase are found. These results indicate that doping Co2+ breaks the weak ferromagnetic moment of the commensurate phase, which exists in the parent compound Ni3V2O8 and (Ni0.9Co0.1)(3)V2O8. This nonlinear influence reflects complicated spin modulation in Ni3V2O8 by doping Co2+.