Magnetostrictive Neel ordering of the spin-5/2 ladder compound BaMn2O3: distortion-induced lifting of geometrical frustration

Abstract

The crystal structure and the magnetism of BaMn${}_2$O${}_3$ have been studied by thermodynamic and by diffraction techniques using large single crystals and powders. BaMn${}_2$O${}_3$ is a realization of a $S=5/2$ spin ladder as the magnetic interaction is dominant along 180${}^{\circ }$ Mn-O-Mn bonds forming the legs and the rungs of a ladder. The temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility exhibits well-defined maxima for all directions proving the low-dimensional magnetic character in BaMn${}_2$O${}_3$. The susceptibility and powder neutron diffraction data, however, show that BaMn${}_2$O${}_3$ exhibits a transition to antiferromagnetic order at 184 K, in spite of a full frustration of the nearest-neighbor inter-ladder coupling in the orthorhombic high-temperature phase. This frustration is lifted by a remarkably strong monoclinic distortion which accompanies the magnetic transition.

9 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables; in V1 fig. 2 was included twice and fig. 4 was missing; this has been corrected in V2

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Cited by in corpus (5)

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• Magnetic transitions in the spin S=5/2 frustrated magnet BiMn2PO6 and strong lattice softening in BiMn2PO6 and BiZn2PO6 below 200 K
• Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg S=5/2 spin chain compound SrMn${}_2$V${}_2$O${}_8$
• Strong magnetoelastic coupling at the transition from harmonic to anharmonic order in NaFe(WO${}_4$)${}_2$ with 3d${}^5$ configuration
• Interplay of magnetic order and ferroelasticity in the spin-orbit coupled antiferromagnet K${}_2$ReCl${}_6$