Antiferromagnetic structure and magnetic properties of Dy₂O₂Te : An isostructural analog of the rare-earth superconductors R₂O₂Bi

The rare-earth compounds R₂O₂Bi (R = Tb, Dy, Er, Lu, Y) are newly discovered superconductors in the vicinity of a rare-earth magnetic long-range order. In this work, we determine the magnetic order of the parent compound Dy₂O₂Te by neutron scattering as the A-type antiferromagnetic structure below the Néel temperature T_N = 9.7 K. The large staggered magnetic moment 9.4(1) μ_B per Dy at T = 3.5 K lies in the basal ab plane. In a magnetic field, anomalous magnetic properties including the bifurcation between zero-field- and field-cooling magnetization, a butterfly-shaped magnetic hysteresis, and slow magnetic relaxation emerge, which are related to the field-induced metamagnetic transitions in Dy₂O₂Te. Our experimental findings could stimulate further research on the relation between antiferromagnetism and superconductivity in these rare-earth compounds.