Crystal and magnetic structures of afeIIFeIII(C2O4)3 (A = organic cation): two-dimensional honeycomb ferrimagnets.

Ferrimagnetic tris-oxalato-ferrate(II,III) salts with general formula AFeIIFeIII(C2O4)3 (A = quaternary ammonium, phosphonium) all crystallise in two-dimensional hexagonal honeycomb lattices but while some show conventional Néel type Q magnetisation at low temperature others show negative Néet type N magnetisation below a compensation temperature Tcomp. The compounds having negative magnetisation show a discontinuity in the magnetisation at a temperature between Tcomp and Tc suggesting a magneto-strictive transition. For the type Q compounds, hysteresis and frequency dependent AC susceptibility show that the low temperature magnetic state is glassy, either because of frustration of random anisotropy domains below a blocking temperature, or imbalance in the fractions of FeII and FeIII.