Synthesis, magnetic and electronic properties of single crystals of EuMn2P2

Large single crystals of EUMn2P2 were grown from a tin flux whose melt composition and reaction temperature profile were optimized to avoid impurity phases. The crystal structure of EUMn2P2 is of the CaAl2Si2 structure type. The structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray crystallography, with the unit cell in the trigonal lattice, a = 4.1294(3) Angstrom and c = 6.9936(8) Angstrom, at T = 90 K (Z = 1, R1 = 0.0239, wR2 = 0.0632) and belongs to the P (3) over bar ml (# 164) space group. Temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility, resistivity, and neutron diffraction measurements on single crystals indicate that EuMn2P2 is an antiferromagnetic insulator with a Neel temperature of 16.5 +/- 0.25 K. The Eu spins order in a simple magnetic structure where the spins in the a-b plane are aligned ferromagnetically; these ferromagnetic planes are stacked antiferromagnetically along the c-axis. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science.