title: Helical magnetism and structural anomalies in triangular lattice α-SrCr2O4.
abstract: α-SrCr(2)O(4) has a triangular planar lattice of d(3) Cr(3+) made from edge sharing CrO(6) octahedra; the plane shows a very small orthorhombic distortion from hexagonal symmetry. With a Weiss temperature of - 596 K and a three-dimensional magnetic ordering temperature of 43 K, the magnetic system is quasi-two-dimensional and frustrated. Neutron powder diffraction shows that the ordered state is an incommensurate helical magnet, with an in-plane propagation vector of k = (0, 0.3217(8), 0). Temperature dependent synchrotron powder diffraction characterization of the structure shows an increase in the inter-plane spacing on cooling below 100 K and an inflection in the cell parameters at the magnetic ordering temperature. These anomalies indicate the presence of a moderate degree of magnetostructural coupling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. sdutton@princeton.edu
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Dutton
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Climent-Pascual
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Stephens
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hodges
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Huq
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Broholm
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Cava
mesh_terms: D002840:Chromates / Q000737:chemistry*; D017608:Chromium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D008280:Magnetics; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D013324:Strontium / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D002840:Chromates; D017608:Chromium Compounds; C048629:strontium chromate; C023600:chromic oxide; D013324:Strontium