Magnetism in oxide chains bridged with the hydride anion: LaSrCoO3H0.7 studied using muon-spin rotation

The transition metal oxide hydride, LaSrCO3H0.7, adopts an unprecedented structure in which oxide chains are bridged by hydride anion's to form a two-dimensional extended network in which magnetic ordering is found up to at least 350 K. Muon-spin rotation has been used to demonstrate that this material is uniformly magnetically ordered throughout its bulk. Our results are compared with those on Sr2CuO3 and Ca2CuO3 which adopt a similar oxide chain structure and we demonstrate the crucial role of the bridging hydride ions. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.