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Growth-controlled twinning and magnetic anisotropy in ${CeSb}_{2}$

Jan T. Weber ^1,2,*, Kristin Kliemt ¹, Sergey L. Bud'ko ^2,3, Paul C. Canfield ^2,3, and Cornelius Krellner ¹

¹Kristall- und Materiallabor, Physikalisches Institut, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue Straße 1, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
²Ames National Laboratory, U.S. DOE, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA
³Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011, USA

^*Contact author: jan.weber@stud.uni-frankfurt.de

Phys. Rev. Materials 10, 044403 – Published 6 April, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/r4hc-dvmr

Abstract

Cerium diantimonide ( ${CeSb}_{2}$ ) is a layered heavy-fermion Kondo lattice material that hosts complex magnetism and pressure-induced superconductivity. The interpretation of its in-plane anisotropy has remained unsettled due to structural twinning, which superimposes orthogonal magnetic responses. Here we combine controlled crystal growth with magnetization and rotational magnetometry to disentangle the effects of twinning. Nearly untwinned high-quality single crystals reveal the intrinsic in-plane anisotropy: The in-plane easy axis saturates at $M_{easy} (4 T) \approx 1.8 μ_{B} / Ce$ , while the in-plane hard axis magnetization is strongly suppressed, nearly linear, and comparable to the out-of-plane response. These results resolve long-standing discrepancies in reported magnetic measurements, in which in-plane metamagnetic transition fields and saturation magnetization varied significantly across previous studies. Growth experiments demonstrate that avoiding the proposed $α β$ structural transition—through Sb-rich flux and slower cooling—systematically reduces twinning. However, powder x-ray diffraction and differential thermal analysis measurements show no clear evidence of a distinct $β$ phase. Our results establish a consistent magnetic phase diagram and provide essential constraints for crystal-electric field models, enabling a clearer understanding of the interplay between anisotropic magnetism and unconventional superconductivity in ${CeSb}_{2}$ .

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Growth-controlled twinning and magnetic anisotropy in ${CeSb}_{2}$

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Growth-controlled twinning and magnetic anisotropy in CeSb2

Abstract

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Article Text

References (36)

Growth-controlled twinning and magnetic anisotropy in ${CeSb}_{2}$