We report a detailed study of the magnetization modulus as a function of temperature and applied magnetic field under varying angle in Sr$_{ 4}$Ru$_{ 3}$O$_{ 10}$ close to the metamagnetic transition at $H_{ c}\backsimeq 2.5\,$T for $H \perp c$. We confirm that the double-feature at $H_{ c}$ is robust without further splitting for temperatures below 1.8 K down to 0.48 K. The metamagnetism in Sr$_{ 4}$Ru$_{ 3}$O$_{ 10}$ is accompanied by a reduction of the magnetic moment in the plane of rotation and large field-hysteretic behavior. The double anomaly shifts to higher fields by rotating the field from $H\,\perp \,c$ to $H\,\parallel\,c$. We compare our experimental findings with numerical simulations based on spin reorientation models caused by intrinsic magnetocrystalline anisotropy and Zeeman effect. Crystal anisotropy is able to explain a metamagnetic transition in the ferromagnetic ordered system Sr$_{ 4}$Ru$_{ 3}$O$_{ 10}$, but a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya term is crucial to account for a reduction of the magnetic moment as discovered in the experiments.
Categories: cond-mat.str-el