Neutron diffraction study of a Nd3Pd20Ge6 sample with three successive magnetic phase transitions

Abstract Low temperature powder neutron diffraction experiments down to 100 mK were performed on an inhomogeneous Nd 3 Pd 20 Ge 6 sample. The onset of magnetic order of the Nd moments on 8c site is found to split into two phase transitions with a dominant commensurate antiferromagnetic component ( k 1 = [1, 1, 1] below T N1 =1.75 K) and an additional weak incommensurate perturbation ( k 1i =[τ, τ, τ], τ = 0.79 , below T N1i =1.40 K). The Nd moments on 4a site remain disordered down to T N 2 =0.58 K and align perpendicular to the propagation vector k 2 = [0, 0, 1].