Impact of inversion symmetry on a quasi-1D S = 1 system.

Here, we report the synthesis and magnetic properties of a novel, centrosymmetric, quasi-1D spin chain system La3VWS3O6, with hexagonal crystal structure (P63/m, a = 9.460 76(3), c = 5.518 09(2) Å). Pure powders were obtained by solid-state reactions from La2O3, WO3 and metal powders of V and W. X-ray powder diffraction, specific heat, magnetization, 139La-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and electric resistivity measurements indicate that the compound is a low dimensional magnet with an S = 1 spin chain that exhibits no sign of magnetic ordering above 2 K. A single ion anisotropy (D/k B ~ 10 K), caused by magneto-crystalline effects, is probably responsible for a thermodynamic entropy release at lower temperatures, which concurs with 139La-NMR data. By detailed comparison with non-centrosymmetric Ba3V2S4O3, having a very similar magnetic lattice, it is obvious that the presence of crystallographic inversion symmetry has an effect on the behaviour of the magnetic chains.

Gapless Quantum Spin Liquid in the Triangular System Sr_{3}CuSb_{2}O_{9}.

We report gapless quantum spin liquid behavior in the layered triangular Sr_{3}CuSb_{2}O_{9} system. X-ray diffraction shows superlattice reflections associated with atomic site ordering into triangular Cu planes well separated by Sb planes. Muon spin relaxation measurements show that the S=1/2 moments at the magnetically active Cu sites remain dynamic down to 65 mK in spite of a large antiferromagnetic exchange scale evidenced by a large Curie-Weiss temperature θ_{CW}≃-143 K as extracted from the bulk susceptibility. Specific heat measurements also show no sign of long-range order down to 0.35 K. The magnetic specific heat (C_{m}) below 5 K reveals a C_{m}=γT+αT^{2} behavior. The significant T^{2} contribution to the magnetic specific heat invites a phenomenology in terms of the so-called Dirac spinon excitations with a linear dispersion. From the low-T specific heat data, we estimate the dominant exchange scale to be ∼36 K using a Dirac spin liquid ansatz which is not far from the values inferred from microscopic density functional theory calculations (∼45 K) as well as high-temperature susceptibility analysis (∼70 K). The linear specific heat coefficient is about 18 mJ/mol K^{2} which is somewhat larger than for typical Fermi liquids.

Magnetic resonance as a local probe for kagomé magnetism in Barlowite Cu4(OH)6FBr.

Temperature- and field-dependent 1H-, 19F-, and 79,81Br-NMR measurements together with zero - field 79,81Br-NQR measurements on polycrystalline samples of barlowite, Cu4(OH)6FBr are conducted to study the magnetism and possible structural distortions on a microscopic level. The temperature dependence of the 79,81Br-NMR spin-lattice relaxation rates 1/T1 indicate a phase transition at TN [Formula: see text] 15 K which is of magnetic origin, but with an unusually weak slowing down of fluctuations below TN. Moreover, 1/T1T scales linear with the bulk susceptibility which indicates persisting spin fluctuations down to 2 K. Quadupolare resonance (NQR) studies reveal a pair of zero-field NQR- lines associated with the two isotopes of Br with the nuclear spins of I = 3/2. Quadrupole coupling constants of vQ ≃ 28.5 MHz and 24.7 MHz for 79Br- and 81Br-nuclei are determined from Br-NMR and the asymmetry parameter of the electric field gradient was estimated to η ≃ 0.2. The Br-NQR lines are consistent with our findings from Br-NMR and they are relatively broad, even above TN. This broadening and the relative large η value suggests a symmetry reduction at the Br- site reflecting the presence of a local distortion in the lattice. Our density-functional calculations show that the displacements of Cu2 atoms located between the kagome planes do not account for this relatively large η. On the other hand, full structural relaxation, including the deformation of kagome planes, leads to a better agreement with the experiment.

Double phase transition in the triangular antiferromagnet Ba3CoTa2O9.

Here, we report the synthesis and magnetic properties of a new triangular lattice antiferromagnet Ba3CoTa2O9. The effective spin of Co2+ is found to be J = 1/2 at low temperatures due to the combined effect of crystal field and spin-orbit coupling. Ba3CoTa2O9 undergoes two successive magnetic phase transitions at [Formula: see text] K and [Formula: see text] K in zero applied field, which is typical for triangular antiferromagnets with the easy-axis magnetic anisotropy. With increasing field, the transition anomalies are found to shift toward low temperatures, confirming the antiferromagnetic nature of the transitions. At higher fields, the transition peaks in the heat capacity data disappear and give way to a broad maximum, which can be ascribed to a Schottky anomaly due to the Zeeman splitting of spin levels. The H - T phase diagram of the compound shows three distinct phases. The possible nature of these phases is discussed.

Magnetic properties of manganese based one-dimensional spin chains.

We have correlated the structure-property relationship of three manganese-based inorganic-organic hybrid structures. Compound 1, [Mn2(OH-BDC)2(DMF)3] (where BDC = 1,4-benzene dicarboxylic acid and DMF = N,N'-dimethylformamide), contains Mn2O11 dimers as secondary building units (SBUs), which are connected by carboxylate anions forming Mn-O-C-O-Mn chains. Compound 2, [Mn2(BDC)2(DMF)2], contains Mn4O20 clusters as SBUs, which also form Mn-O-C-O-Mn chains. In compound 3, [Mn3(BDC)3(DEF)2] (where DEF = N,N'-diethylformamide), the distorted MnO6 octahedra are linked to form a one-dimensional chain with Mn-O-Mn connectivity. The magnetic properties were investigated by means of magnetization and heat capacity measurements. The temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility of all the three compounds could be nicely fitted using a one-dimensional S = 5/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain model and the value of intra-chain exchange coupling (J/k(B)) between Mn(2+) ions was estimated to be ∼1.1 K, ∼0.7 K, and ∼0.46 K for compounds 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Compound 1 does not undergo any magnetic long-range-order down to 2 K while compounds 2 and 3 undergo long-range magnetic order at T(N) ≈ 4.2 K and ≈4.3 K, respectively, which are of spin-glass type. From the values of J/k(B) and T(N) the inter-chain coupling (J(⊥)/k(B)) was calculated to be about 0.1J/k(B) for both compounds 2 and 3, respectively.