Abstract
We report high resolution neutron scattering measurements on the rhombohedrally stacked triangular antiferromagnet NaCrO 2 which has recently been shown to exhibit an unusually broad fluctuating cross-over regime extending far below the onset of spin freezing at T c . Our results show that at T c purely two-dimensional quasi-static spin correlations of the 120° type exist. Below some cross-over temperature ( T ∼ 0.75 T c ) a small incommensuration develops which helps resolve the inter-layer spin frustration and drives short-range three-dimensional magnetic order. This incommensuration assisted dimensional cross-over suggests that inter-layer frustration is responsible for stabilizing the rare 2D correlated phase above 0.75 T c .
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