Magnetic order of LiMnBO3:: A new type of chiral magnetic ground state -: art. no. 052405

beta-LiMnBO3 crystallizes in a hexagonal lattice and is built up of MnO5 chains linked by BO3 groups. Magnetic susceptibility shows a broad maximum at 47 K, above which the behavior is typical for a one-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet with J=5.4 K. Magnetic neutron diffraction reveals a much lower ordering temperature (28.5 K) to give a novel chiral ground state with a magnetic unit cell of root3a(N), 2c(N) consisting of a mixture of one ferromagnetic Mn-3 triangle and two normal 120degrees antiferromagnetic Mn-3 triangles.