Orbital frustration at the origin of the magnetic behavior in LiNiO2.
We report on the ESR, magnetization, and magnetic susceptibility measurements performed over a large temperature range, from 1.5 to 750 K, on high-quality stoichiometric LiNiO2. We find that this compound displays two distinct temperature regions where its magnetic behavior is anomalous. With the help of a statistical model based on the Kugel'-Khomskii Hamiltonian, we show that below T(of) approximately 400 K, an orbitally frustrated state characteristic of the triangular lattice is established. This then gives a solution to the long-standing controversial problem of the magnetic behavior in LiNiO2.
Reynaud
F
F
Laboratoire Matériaux et Microélectronique de Provence, Case 151, Université d'Aix-Marseille III and CNRS, 13397 Marseille Cedex 20, France.
Mertz
D
D
Celestini
F
F
Debierre
J M
JM
Ghorayeb
A M
AM
Simon
P
P
Stepanov
A
A
Voiron
J
J
Delmas
C
C