On-lattice frustration, arising from the competition between incompatible exchange interactions, can lead to many quasi-degenerate magnetic ground states. This effect has recently been identified in bulk CrOCl, a van der Waals magnet that, below its Néel temperature of 15 K, exhibits an antiferromagnetic ground state with a magnetic unit cell four times larger than the crystallographic one. Upon applying an external magnetic field, a cascade of magnetic ground states emerges, characterized by different magnetic unit cells and spin arrangements.
In this talk, I will show how magneto-Raman scattering measurements can be used to obtain a detailed description of these field-induced ground states and their anisotropies.

(Reference: A. Pawbake et al., ACS Nano 19, 23693 (2025))