Eur. Phys. J. B 16, 37-41 (2000)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s100510070246

Magnetic structure of Li_1-xNi_1+xO₂

¹ Grenoble High Field Magnetic Laboratory, MPI-FKF and CNRS, BP 166, 38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
² Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux, CNRS, École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie et de Physique de Bordeaux, avenue A. Schweitzer, 33608 Bordeaux, France

Corresponding author: ^a nunezreg@labs.polycnrs-gre.fr

Received: 8 December 1999
Published online: 15 July 2000

Abstract

We study the magnetic structure of layered Li_1-xNi_1+xO₂ and propose a new scheme: the AF interaction between the excess Ni²⁺ in the Li layers and the Ni³⁺ ions in the Ni planes, gives rise to the formation of ferrimagnetic clusters, which control the physics of these systems. The values of the different interactions are estimated from a mean field calculation in the high temperature limit. For the small x samples studied here the method does not yield an accurate value of J_AF, but it is very sensitive to the intralayer interactions, allowing to conclude that they are ferromagnetic. The recent proposal of a quantum spin-orbital liquid in this system is discussed and the comparison with Jahn-Teller distorted NaNiO₂ is made.