A Powder Neutron Diffraction Study of the Magnetic Structure of FeV2S4

• Published in: Journal of solid state chemistry Vol. 144; no. 2; pp. 372 - 378
• Main Authors: Powell, Anthony V, Ritter, Clemens, Vaqueiro, Paz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Diego, CA Elsevier Inc 01.05.1999; Elsevier
• Subjects: Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Exact sciences and technology; Magnetic properties and materials; Physics; Spin arrangements in magnetically ordered materials (including neutron and spin-polarized electron studies, synchrotron-source x-ray scattering, etc.); Inorganic compounds; Neutron diffraction; Iron sulfides; Ternary compounds; Transition element compounds; Magnetic structure; Experimental study; Magnetic transitions; Crystal structure; Magnetic susceptibility; Vanadium sulfides
• ISSN: 0022-4596; 1095-726X
• DOI: 10.1006/jssc.1999.8168

Variable-temperature powder neutron diffraction data demonstrate that FeV2S4undergoes a transition to a long-range magnetically ordered state at 135(7) K, in agreement with magnetic susceptibility data. High-resolution neutron diffraction data collected at 1.9 K reveal that magnetic ordering results in a doubling of the crystallographic unit-cell dimensions (I2/m a=5.8302(2),b=3.2761(1),c=11.2398(4) Å,β=92.046(2)°) in theaandcdirections and that the magnetic structure is described by a propagation vector of (12, 0, 12). Cations in an ordered defect layer, 76% of which are Fe(II), possess an average ordered moment of 1.86(5)μB, which is directed at an angle of 75° to the layer. Cation–cation interactions reduce the average moment of cations in theMS2unit to 0.17(4)μB. The complex magnetic structure involves essentially collinear antiferromagnetic ordering between nearest-neighbor cations.