Crystal growth, transport, and magnetic properties of quasi-one-dimensional La3MnBi5

Quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) materials featuring chainlike structures with half-filled transition metal d shells offer a unique playground to study emergent spin order and quasiparticle interactions. In this paper, we successfully grow and comprehensively analyze a manganese-based compound, La₃MnBi₅, characterized by face-sharing MnBi₆ spin chains. At low temperatures, La₃MnBi₅ adopts an antiferromagnetic spin configuration and exhibits various anomalies in both magnetization and specific heat measurements, signatures for successive magnetic phase transitions upon varying temperature. The electrical transport reveals its metallic behavior, likely contributed by the itinerant La electrons. We reveal complex hysteretic behaviors in its magnetoresistance under different transport configurations, indicating the interplay between the interchain and intrachain coupling in this Q1D material. In this paper, we offer insights into the understanding of the unique magnetic and electronic properties of the R₃MX₅ family, and we hope to spark further investigation into the precise magnetic structure and spin physics in similar systems.