The Interplay of Electronic Configuration and Anion Ordering on the Magnetic Behavior of Hydroxyfluoride Diaspores.

We report a new nickel hydroxyfluoride diaspore Ni(OH)F prepared using hydrothermal synthesis from NiCl·6HO and NaF. Magnetic characterization reveals that, contrary to other reported transition-metal hydroxyfluoride diaspores, Ni(OH)F displays weak ferromagnetism below the magnetic ordering temperature. To understand this difference, neutron diffraction is used to determine the long-range magnetic structure.