Lattice and magnetic structure in the van der Waals antiferromagnet VBr3

Here, we report a comprehensive investigation of the lattice and magnetic structure in van der Waals antiferromagnet VBr3, characterized by a BiI3-type structure at room temperature. Neutron diffraction experiments were performed on both polycrystalline and single-crystalline VBr3 samples, revealing clear magnetic Bragg peaks emerging below the Néel temperature of TN=26.5 K. These magnetic Bragg peaks can be indexed by k=(0, 0.5, 1) in hexagonal notation. Our refinement analysis suggests that the antiferromagnetic order in VBr3 manifests as a zigzag structure. Moreover, we observed peak splitting for nuclear Bragg peaks in the HK plane below the structure transition temperature of TS=90.4 K, indicating the breaking of threefold symmetry within the ab plane.