Magnetic and resonance properties of LiCu2O2 single crystals

We study the structural, magnetic, and resonance properties of LiCu₂O₂ single crystals grown by the spontaneous crystallization method. The data are interpreted on the assumption that the crystalline structure of the grown single crystals is orthorhombic. Long-range antiferromagnetic order sets in at temperatures below 22.5 K, while above this temperature the dependence of the magnetic susceptibility has a shape characteristic of interacting antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chains. We hypothesize that long-range magnetic order sets in below 22.5 K through the destruction of the ideal ladder structure of LiCu₂O₂ because of partial redistribution of copper and lithium ions at the crystal lattice sites and because of the presence of other defects in the crystalline structure. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 113, 1866–1876 (May 1998)