Evidence for orthorhombic distortions in the ordered state of ZnCr₂O₄: A magnetic resonance study

We present an elaborate electron-spin resonance study of the low-energy dynamics and magnetization in the ordered phase of the magnetically frustrated spinel ZnCr$_2$O$_4$. We observe several resonance modes corresponding to different structural domains and found that the number of domains can be easily reduced by field-cooling the sample through the transition point. To describe the observed antiferromagnetic resonance spectra it is necessary to take into account an orthorhombic lattice distortion in addition to the earlier reported tetragonal distortion which both appear at the antiferromagnetic phase transition.