Magnetic structure investigation of the intercalated transition metal dichalcogenide V 1 / 3 NbS 2

We investigate the temperature evolution of the magnetic structure of ${\mathrm{V}}_{1/3}{\mathrm{NbS}}_{2}$ using neutron diffraction techniques. We find that ${\mathrm{V}}_{1/3}{\mathrm{NbS}}_{2}$ has two propagation vectors: ${\mathbf{k}}_{\mathbf{0}}=(0,0,0)$ and ${\mathbf{k}}_{\mathbf{1}}=(0,0,\frac{1}{3})$. The ${\mathbf{k}}_{\mathbf{0}}$ vector can be associated with an antiferromagnetic ordering of in-plane moments with a refined value of $0.90(5){\ensuremath{\mu}}_{\mathrm{B}}$, and ${\mathbf{k}}_{\mathbf{1}}$ can be associated with moments along the $c$ axis in an up-down-down configuration with refined values of $1.21(12){\ensuremath{\mu}}_{\mathrm{B}}$ and $0.61(6){\ensuremath{\mu}}_{\mathrm{B}}$. Both ${\mathbf{k}}_{\mathbf{0}}$ and ${\mathbf{k}}_{\mathbf{1}}$ magnetic components couple with an out-of-plane ferromagnetic moment consistent with magnetization data. Furthermore, single-crystal neutron diffraction shows evidence of diffuse magnetic scattering between the (010) and ($01\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\frac{1}{3}$) Bragg peaks. We also characterize the field and temperature evolution of the magnetic structure in ${\mathrm{V}}_{1/3}{\mathrm{NbS}}_{2}$ by magnetic susceptibility and heat capacity measurements. The dc susceptibility measurements give an antiferromagnetic transition temperature of ${T}_{\mathrm{N}}=50$ K, and the field scans reveal that the moment does not saturate at magnetic fields up to 100 kOe.