  CsO2 is a member of the family of alkali superoxides (formula AO2 with A= Na,
K, Rb and Cs) that exhibit magnetic behavior arising from open $p$-shell
electrons residing on O2- molecules. We use neutron diffraction to solve the
crystal and magnetic structures of CsO2, and observe a complex series of
structures on cooling from room temperature to 1.6 K. These include an
incommensurate modulation along the a-axis of the structure at intermediate
temperatures, which then locks into a commensurate modulation that doubles the
unit cell compared to the previously supposed orthorhombic unit cell. In both
incommensurate and commensurate phases our structural solution involves a
staggering of the cesium ion positions along the b-axis, in contrast to studies
of other alkali superoxides in which staggered tilts of the O2- dimers relative
to the c-axis are seen. Below T ~ 10 K we observe magnetic Bragg reflections
arising from an antiferromagnetically ordered structure with a wavevector of k
= (0,0,0) (relative to the doubled crystallographic unit cell), with moments
that point predominantly along the b-axis with a small component along the
a-axis that hints at possible anisotropic exchange coupling (consistent with
the crystal structure). Measurements of the magnetic Bragg reflections in an
applied magnetic field suggest a spin-flop transition takes place between 2 T
and 4 T in which moments likely flop to point along the crystallographic
a-axis. Our measurements indicate that CsO2 is an interesting example of
magnetic properties being inherently linked to the crystal structure, in that
the staggered displacement of the cesium ions activates antisymmetric exchange
which then permits the observed spin canting.
