The crystal structures and magnetic properties of melilite-type oxides Sr(2)MGe(2)O(7) (M = Mn, Co) were investigated. These compounds crystallize in the melilite structure with space group P ̅42(1)m, in which the M and Ge ions occupy two kinds of tetrahedral sites in an ordered manner. The magnetic M ions form a square-planar lattice in the ab plane. Both compounds do not show the structural phase transition down to 2.5 K. The temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility for Sr(2)MnGe(2)O(7) shows a broad peak at ~6.0 K because of a two-dimensional magnetic interaction between Mn ions in the ab plane. At 4.4 K, an antiferromagnetic transition was observed. The magnetic structure was determined by the neutron powder diffraction measurements at 2.5 K. It can be represented by the propagation vector k = (0, 0, 1/2), and the magnetic moments of Mn(2+) (3.99 μ(B)) ions order antiferromagnetically in a collinear manner along the c axis. On the other hand, Sr(2)CoGe(2)O(7) shows an antiferromagnetic transition at 6.5 K with divergence between zero-field-cooled and field-cooled susceptibilities. Its magnetic structure determined at 2.5 K has a magnetic propagation vector k = (0, 0, 0), and the ordered magnetic moment of Co(2+) (2.81 μ(B)) adopts a collinear arrangement lying on the ab plane.
© 2012 American Chemical Society