Synthesis and anisotropic magnetic properties of LiCrTe2 single crystals with a triangular-lattice antiferromagnetic structure

We report on the synthesis of LiCrTe2 single crystals and on their anisotropic magnetic properties. We have obtained these single crystals by employing a Te/Li-flux synthesis method. We find LiCrTe2 to crystallize in a TlCdS2 -type structure with cell parameters of a = 3.9512(5) angstrom and c = 6.6196(7) angstrom at T = 175 K. The content of lithium in these crystals was determined to be neary stoichiometric by means of neutron diffraction. We find a pronounced magnetic transition at T-N(ab) = 144 K and T-N(c) = 148 K, respectively. These transition temperatures are substantially higher than earlier reports on polycrystalline samples. We have performed neutron powder diffraction measurements that reveal that the long-range low-temperature magnetic structure of single crystalline LiCrTe2 is an A-type antiferromagnetic structure. Our DFT calculations are in good agreement with these experimental observations. We find the system to be easy axis with moments oriented along the c-direction experimentally as well as in our calculations. Thereby, the magnetic Hamiltonian can be written as H = H-Heisenberg + Sigma(i) K-c(S-i(z))(2) with K-c = -0.34 K (where |S-z| = 3/2). We find LiCrTe2 to be highly anisotropic, with a pronounced metamagnetic transition for H perpendicular to ab with a critical field of mu H-MM(5 K) approximate to 2.5 T. Using detailed orientation-dependent magnetization measurements, we have determined the magnetic phase diagram of this material. Our findings suggest that LiCrTe2 is a promising material for exploring the interplay between crystal structure and magnetism, and could have potential applications in spin-based 2D devices.