Cluster-glass behavior in the two-dimensional triangular lattice Ising-spin compound Li2Mn3O7

Abstract

We present the detailed structural and magnetic properties of ${\mathrm{Li}}_{2}{\mathrm{Mn}}_{3}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$ from powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), dc susceptibility, heat capacity, ac susceptibility, thermoremanent magnetization, magnetic memory, and exchange bias effect. Rietveld refinement of XRD data reveals that this compound has a rhombhohedral structure composed of a layered triangular lattice. Onset of spin-glass transition was confirmed by dc magnetization and ac susceptibility measurements. Dynamic scaling laws were used to analyze and classify the glassy behavior of the compound. Magnetic field dependence of irreversible temperature follows the Almeida-Thouless line, which is characteristic for an Ising spin-glass system. Fitting of the frequency-dependent freezing temperature with a power law results in $z{\ensuremath{\nu}}^{\ensuremath{'}}=4.06\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.06$, which indicates the critical exponent of the sluggish spin dynamics and ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{0}=4.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}8}$ s is a characteristic time scale for a single spin-flip. Further evidence of cluster-glass behavior comes from the frequency dependence of the freezing temperature fitted with the Vogel-Fulcher law, which considers interaction between bigger magnetic entities. Values of fitting parameters are ${E}_{a}/{k}_{B}=27.62$ K and ${T}_{0}=9.57$ K, which confirm cluster-glass behavior. The presence of magnetic relaxation below freezing temperature and the magnetic memory effect confirms the nonequilibrium dynamics of the system through a number of metastable states. Moreover, observation of the exchange bias effect reflects the presence of intrinsic phase inhomogeneity. These results indicate that the triangular lattice causes a disordered ground state as a result of competing exchange interactions.