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Magnetic order and Li diffusion in the -filled kagome layers of the antiperovskite lithium-ion battery materials and
Phys. Rev. B 112, 094443 – Published 22 September, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/t7tf-5ntl
Abstract
The recently discovered lithium-rich antiperovskites and host lithium and iron ions on the same atomic position which octahedrally coordinates to central oxygens. In a cubic antiperovskite these sites form kagome planes stacked along the directions which triangular motifs induce high geometric frustration in the diluted magnetic sublattice for antiferromagnetic interactions. Despite their compelling properties as high-capacity Li-ion battery cathode materials, very little is known about the electronic and magnetic properties of lithium-rich antiperovskites. We report static magnetization, Mössbauer, and NMR studies on both compounds. Our data reveal a Pauli paramagnetic-like behavior, a long-range antiferromagnetically ordered ground state below K, and a regime of short-range magnetic correlations up to 100 K. Our results are consistent with a random Li-Fe distribution on the shared lattice position. In addition, Li-hopping is observed above 200 K with an activation energy of eV. Overall, our data elucidate static magnetism in a disordered magnetically frustrated and presumably semimetallic system with thermally induced ion diffusion dynamics.