Spin chirality on a two-dimensional frustrated lattice.
The collective behaviour of interacting magnetic moments can be strongly influenced by the topology of the underlying lattice. In geometrically frustrated spin systems, interesting chiral correlations may develop that are related to the spin arrangement on triangular plaquettes. We report a study of the spin chirality on a two-dimensional geometrically frustrated lattice. Our new chemical synthesis methods allow us to produce large single-crystal samples of KFe3(OH)6(SO4)2, an ideal Kagomé lattice antiferromagnet. Combined thermodynamic and neutron scattering measurements reveal that the phase transition to the ordered ground-state is unusual. At low temperatures, application of a magnetic field induces a transition between states with different non-trivial spin-textures.
Grohol
Daniel
D
Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Matan
Kittiwit
K
Cho
Jin-Hyung
JH
Lee
Seung-Hun
SH
Lynn
Jeffrey W
JW
Nocera
Daniel G
DG
Lee
Young S
YS
D001608:Beryllium / Q000737:chemistry; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry; D008280:Magnetics; D008422:Materials Testing; D008956:Models, Chemical; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D009502:Neutrons; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry; D010825:Physics / Q000379:methods; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D013696:Temperature; D013816:Thermodynamics
D007501:Iron; D009584:Nitrogen; D001608:Beryllium