Magnetic-Nonmagnetic Phase Transition with Interlayer Charge Disproportionation of Nb3 Trimers in the Cluster Compound Nb3Cl8

Yuya Haraguchi; Chishiro Michioka; Manabu Ishikawa; Yoshiaki Nakano; Hideki Yamochi; Hiroaki Ueda; Kazuyoshi Yoshimura

doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.6b03028

Magnetic-Nonmagnetic Phase Transition with Interlayer Charge Disproportionation of Nb₃ Trimers in the Cluster Compound Nb₃Cl₈

Inorg Chem. 2017 Mar 20;56(6):3483-3488. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.6b03028. Epub 2017 Feb 27.

Authors

Yuya Haraguchi¹, Chishiro Michioka¹, Manabu Ishikawa¹, Yoshiaki Nakano¹, Hideki Yamochi¹, Hiroaki Ueda¹, Kazuyoshi Yoshimura¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University , Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.

PMID: 28240540
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.6b03028

Abstract

We grew large single crystals of the cluster magnet Nb₃Cl₈ with a magnetic triangular lattice and investigated its magnetic properties and crystal structure. In Nb₃Cl₈, the [Nb₃]⁸⁺ cluster has a single unpaired spin, making it an S = 1/2 triangular lattice anti-ferromagnet. At low temperatures, Nb₃Cl₈ exhibits a magnetic-nonmagnetic phase transition driven by a charge disproportionation, in which the paramagnetic [Nb₃]⁸⁺ clusters transform into alternating layers of nonmagnetic [Nb₃]⁷⁺ and [Nb₃]⁹⁺ clusters. The observed exotic phenomenon with the strong correlation between the magnetism and structure are based on the nature of the cluster magnetism.