Interplay of magnetic order and ferroelasticity in the spin-orbit coupled antiferromagnet K2ReCl6

The magnetic and structural phase transitions occurring in K₂ReCl₆ were studied by macroscopic and microscopic techniques. Structural phase transitions associated with rotations of the ReCl₆ octahedra lower the symmetry from cubic to monoclinic, form ferroelastic domains, and are visible in susceptibility, specific heat, and thermal expansion measurements. In the antiferromagnetically ordered state slightly below TN=120.16em0exK these domains can be rearranged by a magnetic field inducing a relative elongation of the polydomain crystal parallel to the field of 0.6%. At zero field the magnetic structure in K₂ReCl₆ does not exhibit a weak ferromagnetic component, but at large magnetic field a distinct magnetic structure with a finite weak ferromagnetic component is stabilized. High magnetic fields rearrange the domains in the crystal to align the weak ferromagnetic moment parallel to the field. The altered domain structure with the crystal elongation is abruptly suppressed at lower temperature but persists upon heating to well above TN. However, heating above the lowest structural phase transition and successive cooling restore the initial shape.