Barlowite as a canted antiferromagnet: Theory and experiment

Harald O. Jeschke, Francesc Salvat-Pujol, Elena Gati, Nguyen Hieu Hoang, Bernd Wolf, Michael Lang, John A. Schlueter, Roser Valentí

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We investigate the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of the newly synthesized mineral barlowite Cu4(OH)6FBr which contains Cu2+ ions in a perfect kagome arrangement. In contrast to the spin-liquid candidate herbertsmithite ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2, kagome layers in barlowite are perfectly aligned due to the different bonding environments adopted by F- and Br- compared to Cl-. With the synthesis of this material we unveil a design strategy for layered kagome systems with possible exotic magnetic states. Density functional theory calculations and effective model considerations for Cu4(OH)6FBr, which has a Cu2+ site coupling the kagome layers, predict a three-dimensional network of exchange couplings, which together with a substantial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya coupling lead to canted antiferromagnetic ordering of this compound in excellent agreement with magnetic susceptibility measurements on single crystals yielding TN=15K.

Original languageEnglish
Article number094417
JournalPhysical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Volume92
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 10 2015
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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