Spin disorder in a stacking polytype of a layered magnet

Xianghan Xu, Guangming Cheng, Danrui Ni, Xin Gui, Weiwei Xie, Nan Yao, and R. J. Cava

Phys. Rev. Materials 7, 024407 – Published 16 February 2023

Abstract

Strongly correlated ground states and exotic quasiparticle excitations in low-dimensional systems are central research topics in the solid-state research community. The present work develops a layered material and explores the physical properties. Single crystals of $3 R − {Na}_{2} MnTe O_{6}$ were synthesized via a flux method. Single-crystal x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy reveal a crystal structure with ABC-type stacking and an $R − 3$ space group, which establishes this material as a stacking polytype to previously reported $2 H − {Na}_{2} MnTe O_{6}$ . Magnetic- and heat-capacity measurements demonstrate dominant antiferromagnetic interactions, the absence of long-range magnetic order down to 0.5 K, and field-dependent short-range magnetic correlations. A structural transition at $\sim 23$ K observed in dielectric measurements may be related to displacements of the Na positions. Our results demonstrate that $3 R − {Na}_{2} MnTe O_{6}$ displays low-dimensional magnetism, disordered structure and spins, and the system displays a rich structure variety.

Received 14 November 2022
Revised 4 January 2023
Accepted 1 February 2023

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.7.024407

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Crystal structure Dielectric properties Frustrated magnetism

Dielectrics Magnetic insulators Single crystal materials

Crystal growth Electron microscopy Magnetization measurements Specific heat measurements X-ray diffraction

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Xianghan Xu ^1,*, Guangming Cheng², Danrui Ni¹, Xin Gui³, Weiwei Xie⁴, Nan Yao², and R. J. Cava^1,*

¹Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
²Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
³Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
⁴Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University, Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA