J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 21 (30 September 2009) 392201 (5pp) doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/21/39/392201
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Consequences of the intrachain dimer–monomer spin frustration and the interchain
dimer–monomer spin exchange in the diamond-chain compound azurite
Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2
J Kang1, C Lee1, R K Kremer2 and M-H Whangbo1
1 Department of Chemistry, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8204,
USA
2 Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Stuttgart,
Germany
E-mail: mike_whangbo@ncsu.eduAbstract.
The spin lattice appropriate for azurite
Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2
was determined by evaluating its spin exchange interactions on the basis of
first principles density functional calculations. It is found that azurite is not
well described as an isolated diamond chain with no spin frustration, but is
better modeled as a two-dimensional spin lattice in which diamond chains
with spin frustration interact through the interchain spin exchange in the
ab-plane. Our analysis indicates that the magnetic properties of azurite at low temperatures
can be approximated on the basis of two independent contributions, i.e., isolated dimer and
effective uniform chain contributions. This prediction was verified by analyzing the
magnetic susceptibility and specific heat data for azurite.
Print publication: Issue 39 (30 September 2009)Received 26 May 2009, in final form 25 August 2009
Published 8 September 2009
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