In many ostensibly crystalline materials, unit-cell-based descriptions do not always capture the complete physics of the system due to disruption in long-range order. In the series of cobalt hydroxides studied here, Co(OH)2−x(Cl)x(H2O)n, magnetic Bragg diffraction reveals a fully compensated N\'eel state, yet the materials show significant and open magnetization loops. A detailed analysis of the local structure defines the aperiodic arrangement of cobalt coordination polyhedra. Representation of the structure as a combination of distinct polyhedral motifs explains the existence of locally uncompensated moments and provides a quantitative agreement with bulk magnetic measurements and magnetic Bragg diffraction.
@article{arxiv.1010.0230,
title = {Understanding complex magnetic order in disordered cobalt hydroxides through analysis of the local structure},
author = {James R. Neilson and Brent C. Melot and Daniel P. Shoemaker and Joshua A. Kurzman and Ram Seshadri and Daniel E. Morse},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1010.0230},
year = {2015}
}