Helical magnetism and structural anomalies in triangular lattice α-SrCr2O4.

α-SrCr(2)O(4) has a triangular planar lattice of d(3) Cr(3+) made from edge sharing CrO(6) octahedra; the plane shows a very small orthorhombic distortion from hexagonal symmetry. With a Weiss temperature of - 596 K and a three-dimensional magnetic ordering temperature of 43 K, the magnetic system is quasi-two-dimensional and frustrated. Neutron powder diffraction shows that the ordered state is an incommensurate helical magnet, with an in-plane propagation vector of k = (0, 0.3217(8), 0). Temperature dependent synchrotron powder diffraction characterization of the structure shows an increase in the inter-plane spacing on cooling below 100 K and an inflection in the cell parameters at the magnetic ordering temperature. These anomalies indicate the presence of a moderate degree of magnetostructural coupling.