Coexisting ferromagnetic order and disorder in a uniform system of hydroxyhalide Co2(OH)3Cl.
Order or disorder often exists in a uniform spin system consisting of one kind of magnetic ion. Nevertheless, they rarely coexist in normal conditions. Our thermodynamic and microscopic magnetic studies of Co2(OH)3Cl, a distorted tetrahedral lattice compound with uniform Co2+ spin, demonstrate that the spins located on one corner of the tetrahedron are periodically ordered, but those on the other three are disordered below a ferromagnetic transition at TC=10.5 K. The partial order resembles that of the field-induced "kagomé-ice" state in spin ice pyrochlore compounds. Evidence suggests that a distortion in the tetrahedron is responsible for this partial ferromagnetic order in a zero field.
Zheng
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XG
Department of Physics, Saga University, Saga 840-8502, Japan. zheng@cc.saga-u.ac.jp
Kawae
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T
Yamada
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Nishiyama
K
K
Xu
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CN