No Arabic abstract
CuSiO_3, isotypic to the spin - Peierls compound CuGeO_3, was discovered recently as a metastable decomposition product of the silicate mineral dioptase, Cu_6Si_6O_{18}cdot6H_2O. We investigated the physical properties of CuSiO_3 using susceptibility, magnetization and specific heat measurements on powder samples. The magnetic susceptibility chi(T) is reproduced very well above T = 8 K by theoretical calculations for an S=1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg linear chain without frustration (alpha = 0) and a nearest - neighbor exchange coupling constant of J/k_{B} = 21 K, much weaker than in CuGeO_3. Below 8 K the susceptibility exhibits a substantial drop. This feature is identified as a second - order phase transition at T_{0} = 7.9 K by specific heat measurements. The influence of magnetic fields on T_{0} is weak, and ac - magnetization measurements give strong evidence for a spin - flop - phase at mu_0H_{SF} ~ 3 T. The origin of the magnetic phase transition at T_{0} = 7.9 K is discussed in the context of long - range antiferromagnetic order (AF) versus spin - Peierls(SP)order. Susceptibility and specific heat results support the AF ordered ground state. Additional temperature dependent ^{63,65}Cu nuclear quadrupole resonance experiments have been carried out to probe the Cu^{2+} electronic state and the spin dynamics in CuSiO_3.
The descloizite-type compound, SrMn(VO4)(OH), was synthesized as large single crystals using a high-temperature high-pressure hydrothermal technique. X-ray single crystal structure analysis reveals that the material crystallizes in the acentric orthorhombic space group of P212121. The structure exhibits a one-dimensional feature, with MnO4 chains propagating along the a-axis which are interconnected by VO4 tetrahedra. Raman and infrared spectra were obtained to identify the fundamental vanadate and hydroxide vibrational modes. Magnetization data reveal a broad maximum at approximately 80 K, arising from one-dimensional magnetic correlations with intrachain exchange constant of J/kB = 9.97(3) K between nearest Mn neighbors and a canted antiferromagnetic behavior below TN = 30 K. Single crystal neutron diffraction at 4 K yielded a magnetic structure solution in the lower symmetry of the magnetic space group P21 with two unique chains displaying antiferromagnetically ordered Mn moments oriented nearly perpendicular to the chain axis. The presence of the Dzyaloshinskii Moriya antisymmetric exchange interaction leads to a slight canting of the spins and gives rise to a weak ferromagnetic component along the chain direction.
The magnetic properties of Na2CuP2O7 were investigated by means of 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), magnetic susceptibility, and heat capacity measurements. We report the 31P NMR shift, the spin-lattice 1/T1, and spin-spin 1/T2 relaxation-rate data as a function of temperature T. The temperature dependence of the NMR shift K(T) is well described by the S=1/2 square lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnetic (HAF) model with an intraplanar exchange of J/k_B simeq 18pm2 K and a hyperfine coupling A = (3533pm185) Oe/mu_B. The 31P NMR spectrum was found to broaden abruptly below T sim 10 K signifying some kind of transition. However, no anomaly was noticed in the bulk susceptibility data down to 1.8 K. The heat capacity appears to have a weak maximum around 10 K. With decrease in temperatures, the spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 decreases monotonically and appears to agree well with the high temperature series expansion expression for a S = 1/2 2D square lattice.
We report the results of muon-spin relaxation measurements on the low-dimensional antiferromagnet Rb4Cu(MoO4)3. No long-range magnetic order is observed down to 50 mK implying a ratio T_N/J<0.005 (where J is the principal exchange strength along the spin chains) and an effective ratio of interchain to intrachain exchange of |J_perp/J|<2 x 10^-3, making the material an excellent realization of a one-dimensional quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet. We probe the persistent spin excitations at low temperatures and find that ballistic spin transport dominates the excitations detected below 0.3 K.
We successfully synthesized the zinc-verdazyl complex [Zn(hfac)$_2$]$cdot$($o$-Py-V) [hfac = 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoroacetylacetonate; $o$-Py-V = 3-(2-pyridyl)-1,5-diphenylverdazyl], which is an ideal model compound with an $S$ = 1/2 ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic alternating Heisenberg chain (F-AF AHC). $Ab$ $initio$ molecular orbital (MO) calculations indicate that two dominant interactions $J_{rm{F}}$ and $J_{rm{AF}}$ form the $S=1/2$ F-AF AHC in this compound. The magnetic susceptibility and magnetic specific heat of the compound exhibit thermally activated behavior below approximately 1 K. Furthermore, its magnetization curve is observed up to the saturation field and directly indicates a zero-field excitation gap of 0.5 T. These experimental results provide evidence for the existence of a Haldane gap. We successfully explain the results in terms of the $S=1/2$ F-AF AHC through quantum Monte Carlo calculations with $|J_{rm{AF}}/J_{rm{F}}|$ = 0.22. The $ab$ $initio$ MO calculations also indicate a weak AF interchain interaction $J$ and that the coupled F-AF AHCs form a honeycomb lattice. The $J$ dependence of the Haldane gap is calculated, and the actual value of $J$ is determined to be less than 0.01$|J_{rm{F}}|$.
Inelastic neutron scattering was used to measure the magnetic field dependence of spin excitations in the antiferromagnetic S=1/2 chain CuCl_2 2(dimethylsulfoxide) (CDC) in the presence of uniform and staggered fields. Dispersive bound states emerge from a zero-field two-spinon continuum with different finite energy minima at wave numbers q=pi and q_i approx pi (1-2<S_z>). The ratios of the field dependent excitation energies are in excellent agreement with predictions for breather and soliton solutions to the quantum sine-Gordon model, the proposed low-energy theory for S=1/2 chains in a staggered field. The data are also consistent with the predicted soliton and n=1,2 breather polarizations and scattering cross sections.