Interplay of structure and magnetism in LuFe4Ge2 tuned by hydrostatic pressure

Competing ground states often lead to the emergence of novel unconventional phases. The presence of magnetic frustration in such materials brings about additional complexity. Here, the authors present a comprehensive study on the ground-state properties of LuFe${}_{4}$Ge${}_{2}$, a ternary intermetallic compound with magnetic frustration and quasi-one-dimensional structure, elucidating the interplay of structure and magnetism. In contrast to the well-studied two-dimensional iron pnictides with competing exchange interactions, LuFe${}_{4}$Ge${}_{2}$ exhibits quasi-one-dimensional chains of geometrically frustrated Fe tetrahedra. It displays a magnetostructural transition at ambient pressure with a change in symmetry from tetragonal to orthorhombic, similar to that in the iron-pnictides, which evolves in an unexpected way under the application of hydrostatic pressure. In that way the intermetallic LuFe${}_{4}$Ge${}_{2}$ material family offers a new perspective on the entanglement of crystal structure and magnetism.