Absence of magnetic ordering in NiGa2S4

Triangular-layered NiGa2S4, contrary to intuitive expectation, does not form a noncollinear antiferromagnetic structure, as do isoelectronic NaCrO2 and LiCrO2. Instead, the local magnetic moments remain disordered down to the lowest measured temperature. To get more insight into this phenomenon, we have performed first principles calculations of the first, second end third neighbors exchange interactions, and found that the second neighbor exchange is negligible, while the first and the third neighbor exchanges are comparable and antiferromagnetic. Both are rapidly suppressed by the on-site Hubbard repulsion.