La4Cu3MoO12 is a new (ABO3)
n
=4 cuprate with mixed B-cations in a ratio of 1:3. When synthesized
at ambient pressure, the structure is not perovskite as expected but rather a homeotype of YAlO3, a rare-earth
hexagonal phase. While the P63/mmc and Pmnm space groups can be used to model average structures which
appear in quenched samples; powder, electron, and neutron diffraction data all confirm that a slow-cooled
sample crystallizes in the monoclinic space group, P1121/m. The copper and molybdenum are coordinated by
oxygen in corner-sharing trigonal bipyramids that are sandwiched between layers of lanthanum cations. In the
B-cation layer, the copper cations order into a kagomé-like lattice of triangular clusters. The magnetism has
been measured from 2 to 800 K and is highly influenced by the geometric arrangement of the CuII cations. An
antiferromagnetic transition occurs at 5 K, but the sample does not reach a purely paramagnetic state until 460
K.
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