Quantum spin liquid in frustrated one-dimensional LiCuSbO4.
A quantum magnet, LiCuSbO4, with chains of edge-sharing spin-1/2 CuO6 octahedra is reported. While short-range order is observed for T<10  K, no zero-field phase transition or spin freezing occurs down to 100 mK. Specific heat indicates a distinct high-field phase near the 12 T saturation field. Neutron scattering shows incommensurate spin correlations with q=(0.47±0.01)π/a and places an upper limit of 70  μeV on any spin gap. Exact diagonalization of 16-spin easy-plane spin-1/2 chains with competing ferro- and antiferromagnetic interactions (J1=-75  K, J2=34  K) accounts for the T>2  K data.
Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA. sed33@cam.ac.uk
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Dutton
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Kumar
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Mourigal
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Soos
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Wen
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Broholm
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Andersen
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Huang
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Zbiri
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Toft-Petersen
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Cava