Magnetic structure of the spin-1/2 frustrated quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnet Cu3Mo2O9: Appearance of a partially disordered state

We investigated the crystal and magnetic structures of the spin-1/2 frustrated antiferromagnet Cu3Mo2O9 in which the spin system consists of antiferromagnetic chains and dimers. The space group at room temperature has been reported to be orthorhombic Pnma (No. 62). We infer that the space group above T-N = 7.9 Kis monoclinic P2(1)/m (No. 11) from the observation of reflections forbidden in Pnma in x-ray powder diffraction experiments at room temperature. We determined the magnetic structure of Cu3Mo2O9 in neutron powder diffraction experiments. Magnetic moments on dimer sites lie in the ac planes. The magnitudes are (0.50 similar to 0.74)mu(B). Moments on chain sites may exist but the magnitudes are very small. The magnetic structure indicates that a partially disordered state is realized. We consider the origin of the magnetic structure, weak ferromagnetism, and electric polarization.