We studied the low-temperature specific heats of two antiferromagnets with the two-dimensional square-kagome structure, i.e., KCu$_6$AlBiO$_4$(SO$_4$)$_5$Cl (KCu6) and Na$_6$Cu$_7$BiO$_4$(PO$_4$)$_4$[Cl,(OH)]$_3$ (NaCu7) with the structural differences that there are interlayer Cu$^{2+}$ ions in NaCu7. Both materials show no magnetic ordering down to 50 mK. At zero field, the $C/T$ of KCu6 has a finite value when the temperature is close to zero K. Under the magnetic field, a seemingly $T^2$ dependence appears and its coefficient is progressively suppressed by the field. For NaCu7, the specific heat exhibits the $T^2$ dependence at zero field and under fields. The ratio of the quadratic coefficients of KCu6 and NaCu7 at high fields is inversely proportional to ratio of the squared Weiss temperatures, which indicates these two compounds host the same ground state under fields. Our results suggest that the interlayer Cu$^{2+}$ ions in NaCu7 play a negligible role in determination of its ground state. We discuss the possible quantum-spin-liquid states in these compounds and further directions to pursue based our results.
Generalized Hardcore Dimer Models approach to low-energy Heisenberg frustrated antiferromagnets: general properties and application to the kagome antiferromagnet
In this Letter, we identify a noncoplanar chiral spin texture on the distorted kagomé-lattice antiferromagnets induced by the presence of a magnetic field applied perpendicular to the distorted kagomé plane. The noncoplanar chiral spin texture has a nonzero scalar spin chirality similar to a chiral quantum spin liquid with broken time-reversal symmetry. In the noncoplanar regime we observe nontrivial topological magnetic excitations and thermal Hall response through the emergent field-induced scalar spin chirality in contrast to collinear ferromagnets in which the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) sp…
We have studied the effect of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction on kagome Heisenberg anti-ferromagnet using Schwinger boson mean field theory (SBMFT). Within SBMFT framework, Messio et al had argued that the ground state of kagome antiferromagnet is possibly a chiral topological spin liquid (Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 207204 (2012)). Thus, we have computed zero-temperature ground state phase diagram considering the time-reversal breaking states as well as fully symmetric Ansätze. We discuss the relevance of these results in experiments and other studies. Finally, we have computed the static and…
We performed inelastic neutron scattering measurements on a polycrystalline sample of a classical kagome antiferromagnet NaBa$_{2}$Mn$_{3}$F$_{11}$ to investigate the possibility of a dispersionless zero-energy excitation associated with rotation of spins along the chains. The observed spectra indeed exhibit such an excitation with strong intensity at low energy, as well as dispersive excitations with weak intensity at high energy. Combining the measurements with calculations from linear spin-wave theory reveals that NaBa$_{2}$Mn$_{3}$F$_{11}$ is a good realization of the classical kagome anti…
Spin dynamics of the spin-1/2 kagome lattice antiferromagnet Cs$_2$Cu$_3$SnF$_{12}$ was studied using high-resolution, time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering. The flat mode, a characteristic of the frustrated kagome antiferromagnet, and the low-energy dispersive mode, which is dominated by magnons, can be well described by the linear spin-wave theory. However, the theory fails to describe three weakly dispersive modes between 9 and 14 meV. These modes could be attributed to two-spinon bound states, which decay into free spinons away from the zone center and at a high temperature, giving r…
The antiferromagnetism in $α$-Cu$_3$Mg(OH)$_6$Br$_2$ was studied by magnetic-susceptibility, specific-heat and neutron-diffraction measurements. The crystal structure consists of Cu$^{2+}$ kagome layers with Mg$^{2+}$ ions occupying the centers of the hexagons, separated by Br$^{1-}$ ions. The magnetic system orders antiferromagnetically at 5.4 K with the magnetic moments aligned ferromagnetically within the kagome planes. The ordered moment is 0.94 $μ_B$, suggesting little quantum and geometrical fluctuations. By comparing the magnetic and specific-heat properties with those of the haydeeite,…
Singlet Ground State and Spin Gap in S=1/2 Kagome Antiferromagnet Rb$_2$Cu$_3$SnF$_{12}$
本文研究了Rb $_2$ Cu $_3$ SnF $_{12}$的晶体结构和磁性。该化合物由角共享的CuF $_{6}$八面体的可果美层组成，与适当的可果美层相比，具有2a x 2a的放大单元。Rb $_2$ Cu $_3$ SnF $_{12}$在磁性上被描述为具有四种相邻交换作用的$S$ =1/2修正的可果美反铁磁体。从磁化率和高场磁化强度测量，它被发现，基态是一个无序的单重态与自旋间隙，从最近的理论预测。精确对角化的12个站点的可果美集群进行分析的磁化率，和个人的交换相互作用进行了评估。
$μ$SR Insight into the Impurity Problem in Quantum Kagome Antiferromagnets
杂质，这是固有的存在于任何真实的材料，可能会发挥重要的作用，与自旋液体基态的阻挫自旋系统的磁性。我们通过μ子自旋谱研究ZnCu $_3$（OH）$_6$ SO $_4$（锌-金红石）来解决量子可果美反铁磁体中的杂质问题。我们表明，μ介子耦合到杂质磁性，源自铜锌intersite无序，和杂质是高度相关的kagome自旋，使我们能够通过近藤效应探测内在的kagome物理。局部磁化率的低温平台表明自旋液体基态是无带隙的。相应的自旋涨落表现出非常规的谱密度和有趣的场依赖性。
We report $^{51}$V NMR, $μ$SR and zero applied field $^{63,65}$Cu NMR measurements on powder samples of Sr-vesignieite, SrCu$_3$V$_2$O$_8$(OH)$_2$, a $S = 1/2$ nearly-kagome Heisenberg antiferromagnet. Our results demonstrate that the ground state is a $\mathbf{q} = 0$ magnetic structure with spins canting either in or out of the kagome plane, giving rise to weak ferromagnetism. We determine the size of ordered moments and the angle of canting for different possible $\mathbf{q} = 0$ structures and orbital scenarios, thereby providing insight into the role of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) inte…
Magnetic phase diagrams and magnetization plateaus of the spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on square-kagome lattice with three nonequivalent exchange interactions
A preponderance of evidence suggests that the ground state of the nearest-neighbor $S = 1/2$ antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice is a gapless spin liquid. Many candidate materials for the realization of this model possess in addition a Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction. We study this system by tensor-network methods and deduce that a weak but finite DM interaction is required to destabilize the gapless spin-liquid state. The critical magnitude, $D_c/J \simeq 0.012(2)$, lies well below the DM strength proposed in the kagome material herbertsmithite, indicating a need t…
We apply linked cluster expansion techniques to study the polarized high-field phase of a spin-half antiferromagnet on the Kagome lattice with Heisenberg and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMI). We find that the Dirac points of the single-magnon spectrum without DMI are robust against arbitrary DMI when the magnetic field lies in the Kagome plane. Unlike the typical case where DMI gaps the spectrum, here we find that varying the DMI merely shifts the location of the Dirac points. In contrast, a magnetic field with a component out of the Kagome plane gaps the spectrum, leading to topologic…
Unconventional features of the magnetization curve at zero temperature such as plateaus or jumps are a hallmark of frustrated spin systems. Very little is known about their behavior at non-zero temperatures. Here we investigate the temperature dependence of the magnetization curve of the kagome lattice antiferromagnet in particular at 1/3 of the saturation magnetization for large lattice sizes of up to N=48 spins. We discuss the phenomenon of asymmetric melting and trace it back to a combined effect of unbalanced magnetization steps on either side of the investigated plateau as well as on the …
