No Arabic abstract
Strongly correlated electrons in layered perovskite structures have been the birthplace of high-temperature superconductivity, spin liquid, and quantum criticality. Specifically, the cuprate materials with layered structures made of corner sharing square planar CuO$_4$ units have been intensely studied due to their Mott insulating grounds state which leads to high-temperature superconductivity upon doping. Identifying new compounds with similar lattice and electronic structures has become a challenge in solid state chemistry. Here, we report the hydrothermal crystal growth of a new copper tellurite sulfate Cu$_3$(TeO$_4$)(SO$_4$)$cdot$H$_2$O, a promising alternative to layered perovskites. The orthorhombic phase (space group $Pnma$) is made of corrugated layers of corner-sharing CuO$_4$ square-planar units that are edge-shared with TeO$_4$ units. The layers are linked by slabs of corner-sharing CuO$_4$ and SO$_4$. Using both the bond valence sum analysis and magnetization data, we find purely Cu$^{2+}$ ions within the layers, but a mixed valence of Cu$^{2+}$/Cu${^+}$ between the layers. Cu$_3$(TeO$_4$)(SO$_4$)$cdot$H$_2$O undergoes an antiferromagnetic transition at $T_N$=67 K marked by a peak in the magnetic susceptibility. Upon further cooling, a spin-canting transition occurs at $T^{star}$=12 K evidenced by a kink in the heat capacity. The spin-canting transition is explained based on a $J_1$-$J_2$ model of magnetic interactions, which is consistent with the slightly different in-plane super-exchange paths. We present Cu$_3$(TeO$_4$)(SO$_4$)$cdot$H$_2$O as a promising platform for the future doping and strain experiments that could tune the Mott insulating ground state into superconducting or spin liquid states.
K$_3$Cu$_3$AlO$_2$(SO$_4$)$_4$ is a highly one-dimensional spin-1/2 inequilateral diamond-chain antiferromagnet. Spinon continuum and spin-singlet dimer excitations are observed in the inelastic neutron scattering spectra, which is in excellent agreement with a theoretical prediction: a dimer-monomer composite structure, where the dimer is caused by strong antiferromagnetic (AFM) coupling and the monomer forms an almost isolated quantum AFM chain controlling low-energy excitations. Moreover, muon spin rotation/relaxation spectroscopy shows no long-range ordering down to 90~mK, which is roughly three orders of magnitude lower than the exchange interaction of the quantum AFM chain. K$_3$Cu$_3$AlO$_2$(SO$_4$)$_4$ is, thus, regarded as a compound that exhibits a Tomonaga-Luttinger spin liquid behavior at low temperatures close to the ground state.
We report the crystal growth and structural and magnetic properties of quasi two-dimensional $S=1/2$ quantum magnet Cu[C$_6$H$_2$(COO)$_4$][H$_3$N-(CH$_2$)$_2$-NH$_3$]$cdot$3H$_2$O. It is found to crystallize in a monoclinic structure with space group $C2/m$. The CuO$_4$ plaquettes are connected into a two-dimensional framework in the $ab$-plane through the anions of [C$_6$H$_2$(COO)$_4$]$^{4-}$ (pyromellitic acid). The [H$_3$N-(CH$_2$)$_2$-NH$_3$]$^{2+}$$cdot$3H$_2$O groups are located between the layers and provide a weak interlayer connection via hydrogen (H...O) bonds. The temperature dependent magnetic susceptibility is well described by $S=1/2$ frustrated square lattice ($J_1-J_2$) model with nearest-neighbor interaction $J_1/k_{rm B} simeq 5.35$ K and next-nearest-neighbor interaction $J_2/k_{rm B} simeq -0.01$ K. Even, our analysis using frustrated rectangular lattice ($J_{1a,b}-J_2$) model confirms almost isotropic nearest-neighbour interactions ($J_{rm 1a}/k_{rm B} simeq 5.31$ K and $J_{rm 1b}/k_{rm B} simeq 5.38$ K) in the $ab$-plane and $J_2/k_{rm B}simeq-0.24$ K. Further, the isothermal magnetization at $T=1.9$ K is also well described by a non-frustrated square lattice model with $J_1/k_{rm B} simeq 5.2$ K. Based on the $J_2/J_1$ ratio, the compound can be placed in the N{e}el antiferromagnetic state of the $J_1 - J_2$ phase diagram. No signature of magnetic long-range-order was detected down to 2 K.
Low-temperature magnetic resonance study of the quasi-two-dimensional antiferromagnet Cu(en)(H$_2$O)$_2$SO$_4$ (en = C$_2$H$_8$N$_2$) was performed down to 0.45~K. This compound orders antiferromagnetically at 0.9K. The analysis of the resonance data within the hydrodynamic approach allowed to identify anisotropy axes and to estimate the anisotropy parameters for the antiferromagnetic phase. Dipolar spin-spin coupling turns out to be the main contribution to the anisotropy of the antiferromagnetic phase. The splitting of the resonance modes and its non-monotonous dependency on the applied frequency was observed below 0.6K in all three field orientations. Several models were discussed to explain the origin of the nontrivial splitting and the existence of inequivalent magnetic subsystems in Cu(en)(H$_2$O)$_2$SO$_4$ was chosen as the most probable source.
Magnetic excitations of the recently discovered frustrated spin-1/2 two-leg ladder system Li$_2$Cu$_2$O(SO$_4$)$_2$ are investigated using inelastic neutron scattering, magnetic susceptibility and infrared absorption measurements. Despite the presence of a magnetic dimerization concomitant with the tetragonal-to-triclinic structural distortion occurring below 125 K, neutron scattering experiments reveal the presence of dispersive triplet excitations above a spin gap of $Delta = 10.6$ meV at 1.5 K, a value consistent with the estimates extracted from magnetic susceptibility. The likely detection of these spin excitations in infrared spectroscopy is explained by invoking a dynamic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya mechanism in which light is coupled to the dimer singlet-to-triplet transition through an optical phonon. These results are qualitatively explained by exact diagonalization and higher-order perturbation calculations carried out on the basis of the dimerized spin Hamiltonian derived from first-principles.
We report on comprehensive results identifying the ground state of a triangular-lattice structured YbZnGaO$_4$ to be spin glass, including no long-range magnetic order, prominent broad excitation continua, and absence of magnetic thermal conductivity. More crucially, from the ultralow-temperature a.c. susceptibility measurements, we unambiguously observe frequency-dependent peaks around 0.1 K, indicating the spin-glass ground state. We suggest this conclusion to hold also for its sister compound YbMgGaO$_4$, which is confirmed by the observation of spin freezing at low temperatures. We consider disorder and frustration to be the main driving force for the spin-glass phase.