High-Pressure Synthesis of Manganese Oxyhydride with Partial Anion Order.

The high-pressure synthesis of a manganese oxyhydride LaSrMnO_3.3H_0.7 is reported. Neutron and X-ray Rietveld analyses showed that this compound adopts the K₂NiF₄ structure with hydride ions positioned exclusively at the equatorial site. This result makes a striking contrast to topochemical reductions of LaSrMnO₄ that result in only oxygen-deficient phases down to LaSrMnO_3.5. This suggests that high H₂ pressure plays a key role in stabilizing the oxyhydride phase, offering an opportunity to synthesize other transition-metal oxyhydrides. Magnetic susceptibility revealed a spin-glass transition at 24 K that is due to competing ferromagnetic (Mn²⁺-Mn³⁺) and antiferromagnetic (Mn²⁺-Mn², Mn³⁺-Mn³⁺) interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]