Competing magnetic phases on a kagomé staircase.
We present thermodynamic and neutron data on Ni3V2O8, a spin-1 system on a kagomé staircase. The extreme degeneracy of the kagomé antiferromagnet is lifted to produce two incommensurate phases at finite T--one amplitude modulated, the other helical--plus a commensurate canted antiferromagnet for T-->0. The H-T phase diagram is described by a model of competing first and second neighbor interactions with smaller anisotropic terms. Ni3V2O8 thus provides an elegant example of order from subleading interactions in a highly frustrated system.
Lawes
G
G
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA.
Kenzelmann
M
M
Rogado
N
N
Kim
K H
KH
Jorge
G A
GA
Cava
R J
RJ
Aharony
A
A
Entin-Wohlman
O
O
Harris
A B
AB
Yildirim
T
T
Huang
Q Z
QZ
Park
S
S
Broholm
C
C
Ramirez
A P
AP