Two-Dimensional Short-Range Magnetic Order in the Tetragonal Spinel Li2Mn2O4

Metastable, tetragonal Li2Mn2O4, prepared by chemical insertion of Li into the cubic spinel, LiMn2O4, was studied by dc magnetic susceptibility and neutron diffraction. The susceptibility data show a very broad maximum at about 120 K, a sharp maximum at about 50 K, and no evidence for Curie−Weiss behavior even up to 600 K. This is consistent with the dominance of short-range, antiferromagnetic correlations attributed to the geometrical …