Structural and magnetic studies of hexagonal β-242Pu2O3

Neutron diffraction and magnetic susceptibility measurements have been used to characterize the structural and magnetic properties of β-Pu2O3 with the hexagonal La2O3 structure. High-resolution neutron powder patterns combined with profile analysis have given the cell constants, atomic positional parameters, and the stoichiometry with high precision. The latter is in agreement with the value determined from thermodynamic methods. The antiferromagnetic structure in the temperature range 4 K<T<TN∼19 K consists of Pu moments in the basal plane, but they vary along the c direction in a pseudospiral way. Two components are required to describe this modulation. The value of the maximum Pu moment at 10 K is ∼0.85 μB, each component having an amplitude of ∼0.6 μB/Pu. At 4 K a spin rotation takes place so that μ∥c. Susceptibility measurements reflect the existence of TN but show very little response near the spin rotation temperature.