No Arabic abstract
We report on a systematic study of the magnetic properties on single crystals of the solid solution Cs$_2$CuCl$_{4-x}$Br$_x$ (0 $leq$ x $leq$ 4), which include the two known end-member compounds Cs$_2$CuCl$_4$ and Cs$_2$CuBr$_4$, classified as quasi-two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets with different degrees of magnetic frustration. By comparative measurements of the magnetic susceptibility $chi$($T$) on as many as eighteen different Br concentrations, we found that the inplane and out-of-plane magnetic correlations, probed by the position and height of a maximum in the magnetic susceptibility, respectively, do not show a smooth variation with x. Instead three distinct concentration regimes can be identified, which are separated by critical concentrations x$_{c1}$ = 1 and x$_{c2}$ = 2. This unusual magnetic behavior can be explained by considering the structural peculiarities of the materials, especially the distorted Cu-halide tetrahedra, which support a site-selective replacement of Cl- by Br- ions. Consequently, the critical concentrations x$_{c1}$ (x$_{c2}$) mark particularly interesting systems, where one (two) halidesublattice positions are fully occupied.
The quantum-spin S = 1=2 chain system Cs$_2$CuCl$_4$ is of high interest due to competing anti-ferromagnetic intra-chain J and inter-chain exchange J interactions and represents a paramount example for Bose-Einstein condensation of magnons [R. Coldea et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 137202 (2002)]. Substitution of chlorine by bromine allows tuning the competing exchange interactions and corresponding magnetic frustration. Here we report on electron spin resonance (ESR) in single crystals of Cs$_2$CuCl$_{4-x}$Br$_x$ with the aim to analyze the evolution of anisotropic exchange contributions. The main source of the ESR linewidth is attributed to the uniform Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. The vector components of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction are determined from the angular dependence of the ESR spectra using a high-temperature approximation. The obtained results support the site selectivity of the Br substitution suggested from the evolution of lattice parameters and magnetic susceptibility dependent on the Br concentration.
We report an experimental and theoretical study of the low-temperature specific heat $C$ and magnetic susceptibility $chi$ of the layered anisotropic triangular-lattice spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnets Cs$_2$CuCl$_{4-x}$Br$_x$ with $x$ = 0, 1, 2, and 4. We find that the ratio $J/J$ of the exchange couplings ranges from 0.32 to $approx 0.78$, implying a change (crossover or quantum phase transition) in the materials magnetic properties from one-dimensional (1D) behavior for $J/J < 0.6$ to two-dimensional (2D) behavior for $J/J approx 0.78$ behavior. For $J/J < 0.6$, realized for $x$ = 0, 1, and 4, we find a magnetic contribution to the low-temperature specific heat, $C_{rm m} propto T$, consistent with spinon excitations in 1D spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnets. Remarkably, for $x$ = 2, where $J/J approx 0.78$ implies a 2D magnatic character, we also observe $C_{rm m} propto T$. This finding, which contrasts the prediction of $C_{rm m} propto T^2$ made by standard spin-wave theories, shows that Fermi-like statistics also plays a significant role for the magnetic excitations in frustrated spin-1/2 2D antiferromagnets.
We report $^{133}$Cs nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements on the 2D frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet Cs$_2$CuCl$_4$ down to 2 K and up to 15 T. We show that $^{133}$Cs NMR is a good probe of the magnetic degrees of freedom in this material. Cu spin degrees of freedom are sensed through a strong anisotropic hyperfine coupling. The spin excitation gap opens above the critical saturation field. The gap value was determined from the activation energy of the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate in a magnetic field applied parallel to the Cu chains (b axis). The values of the g-factor and the saturation field are consistent with the neutron-scattering and magnetization results. The measurements of the spin-spin relaxation time are exploited to show that no structural changes occur down to the lowest temperatures investigated.
We present a study of the magnetic susceptibility $chi_{mol}$ under variable hydrostatic pressure on single crystals of Cs$_2$CuCl$_{4-x}$Br$_x$. This includes the border compounds textit{x} = 0 and 4, known as good realizations of the distorted triangular-lattice spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet, as well as the isostructural stoichiometric systems Cs$_2$CuCl$_{3}$Br$_1$ and Cs$_2$CuCl$_{2}$Br$_2$. For the determination of the exchange coupling constants $J$ and $J^{prime}$, $chi_{mol}$ data were fitted by a $J-J^{prime}$ model cite{Schmidt2015}. Its application, validated for the border compounds, yields a degree of frustration $J^{prime}$/$J$ = 0.47 for Cs$_2$CuCl$_3$Br$_1$ and $J^{prime}$/$J$ $simeq$ 0.63 - 0.78 for Cs$_2$CuCl$_2$Br$_2$, making these systems particular interesting representatives of this family. From the evolution of the magnetic susceptibility under pressure up to about 0.4,GPa, the maximum pressure applied, two observations were made for all the compounds investigated here. First, we find that the overall energy scale, given by $J_c = (J^2$ + $J^{prime 2}$)$^{1/2}$, increases under pressure, whereas the ratio $J^{prime}$/$J$ remains unchanged in this pressure range. These experimental observations are in accordance with the results of DFT calculations performed for these materials. Secondly, for the magnetoelastic coupling constants, extraordinarily small values are obtained. We assign these observations to a structural peculiarity of this class of materials.
We have found an unusual competition of two frustration mechanisms in the 2D quantum antiferromagnet Cs$_2$CoBr$_4$. The key actors are the alternation of single-ion planar anisotropy direction of the individual magnetic Co$^{2+}$ ions, and their arrangement in a distorted triangular lattice structure. In particular, the uniquely oriented Ising-type anisotropy emerges from the competition of easy-plane ones, and for a magnetic field applied along this axis one finds a cascade of five ordered phases at low temperatures. Two of these phases feature magnetization plateaux. The low-field one is supposed to be a consequence of a collinear ground state stabilized by the anisotropy, while the other plateau bears characteristics of an up-up-down state exclusive for lattices with triangular exchange patterns. Such coexistence of the magnetization plateaux is a fingerprint of competition between the anisotropy and the geometric frustration in Cs$_2$CoBr$_4$.