Magnetostriction of the spin-Peierls cuprate CuGeO3

The isothermal, longitudinal magnetostriction of the spin-Peierls cuprate CuGeO₃ has been measured along the three orthorhombic directions up to 14 Tesla by means of a high resolution capacitance dilatometer. For all three axes we observe anomalies at both the dimerized/incommensurate (D/I) and the dimerized/uniform (D/U) transition whose sizes and signs differ. A precise H-T phase diagram is determined from the field and temperature dependence of the lattice constants, which roughly agrees with theoretical predictions. At the D/I transition the magnetostriction shows a jumplike behavior and a hysteresis indicating a first order transition. From the jumps of the magnetostriction at the D/I transition we estimate considerable, uniaxial stress dependences of the critical magnetic field H _c, which correlate with those of the spin-Peierls transition temperature. A finite magnetostriction is also resolved within the high temperature uniform phase of CuGeO₃ for all three lattice directions. These data show a pronounced, strongly anisotropic spin-lattice coupling in CuGeO₃ and allow to derive the uniaxial pressure dependences of the magnetic susceptibility. Based on our findings the relevance of different structural parameters for the magnetic exchange interaction is discussed.     

Thermodynamic properties of the spin-Peierls transition in CuGeO3

We present an investigation of the spin-Peierls transition atT _SP=14.5 K in polycrystalline CuGeO₃ through specific-heat and thermal-expansion measurements. Clear second-order phase-transition anomalies are found in both properties atT _SP, although only a small entropy of S0.1 Rn2 is released at the transition. Most of the entropy is released atT _SP<T<150 K, where the temperature dependence of the magnetic contribution to the specific heat as well as the thermal expansion exhibit extrema atT ^*40 K. These are caused by one-dimensional antiferromagnetic fluctuations along the Cu chains, possibly accompanied by structural fluctuations. Using Ehrenfest's relation, a hydrostatic pressure coefficient (T _SP/_p)_p0 (0.45±0.06) K/kbar is derived.     

Cu-isotope effect on the spin-Peierls transition of CuGeO3

The Cu-isotope effect on the spin-Peierls transition temperature T _SP in samples of the Cu²⁺ linear-chain compound CuGeO₃ has been determined by dc-magneticsusceptibility and specific-heat measurements. A downshift of the spin-Peierls transition by about 0.1 K for the ⁶⁵Cu-isotope enriched ⁶⁵CuGeO₃ as compared to ^natCuGeO₃ containing the natural mixture of isotopes is found consistently in the magnetization and specific heat. This result suggests different isotope effects on the phonon characteristic frequency θ₀ on the one hand and on the spin-phonon coupling constant g on the other hand. However, the isotope effect on T _SP is smaller than estimated if all atoms were to contribute to ω₀ and only the Cu atoms to g.     

Effect of magnetic field on the spin-Peierls transition in single-crystal CuGeO

This paper reports that high quality CuGeO3 single crystals were successfully grown by floating-zone technique and the magnetic property was studied. The temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility below the spin-Peierls （SP） transition temperature （Tsp） under magnetic fields applying along both the a- and c-axis direction can be fitted well by a model of noninteracting dimmers. The spin gap derived from the fitting is consistent with other reports. There is a very weak anisotropy in the fitting parameters for different directions, which should be expected from a SP system. A small upturn in susceptibility at low temperature due to paramagnetic impurities and/or defects can be observed. A suppression of the upturn by magnetic field is first discovered in this system and the possible origins for this suppression are discussed.     

New scenario for the decay of spin-Peierls state in CuGeO3: Fe. Onset of a quantum critical point

It is found experimentally that the introduction of 1% Fe in the CuGeO₃ matrix gives rise to a strong disorder in the magnetic subsystem and leads to an appearance of the χ～1/T ^α (α ≈0.36) low-temperature asymptotic form for magnetic susceptibility over a wide temperature range 1.7≤ T≤30 K. A model attributing this anomaly to the suppression of spin-Peierls state as a result of the formation of the quantum critical point is proposed.     

Magnetic resonance of intrinsic defects in the spin-Peierls magnet CuGeO3

Magnetic resonance in pure single-crystal CuGeO₃ at frequencies 9–75 GHz in the temperature range 1.2–25 K is investigated. Splitting of the magnetic-resonance line into several spectral components is observed at temperatures below 5 K, where spin-Peierls dimerization suppresses the magnetic susceptibility and the ESR signal intensity. Analysis of the magnetic resonance spectra over a wide frequency range with different directions of the magnetic field at different temperatures makes it possible to identify among these components the ESR signals due to defects, having effective spin S=1/2 and spin S=1, in the spin-Peierls phase. The g factor corresponding to these ESR signals is the same and close to the value characteristic for the ion Cu²⁺. Another magnetic-resonance line is characterized by a strongly anisotropic g factor and an increase (at a threshold in the excitation power) in the susceptibility both at resonance and in the line wings. These signals are tentatively attributed to two possible types of planar defects arising on the walls of domains of the spin-Peierls state with different values of the dimerization phase. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 114, 1876–1896 (November 1998)     

The transition from the spin-glass to the ferromagnetic state in the bond-random Ising model in the face-centred cubic lattice

The boundary between the spin-glass state and the ferromagnetic state (p_F-G) of the bond-random (±J) Ising model in the face-centred cubic lattice at T = 0 is calculated by the method of tetrahedron approximation in the simple version. The obtained value is, p_F-G = 0.682, which is a little larger than the triple point p_t = 0.654, and the model shows the reentrant behavior.     

Commensurability oscillations and a new phase transition in YBa2Cu3Oy single crystals

Magnetization oscillations due to the commensurability of the vortex and crystal lattice periods in YBa₂Cu₃O_y (y=6.97±0.02) single crystals are investigated using a high angular resolution magnetometer. A sharp peak in the temperature dependence of the oscillation amplitude as well as other features in the behavior of the oscillation amplitude and of the irreversible magnetization are observed at T _f ∼60 K. It is inferred that T _f is the temperature of a transition of the solid vortex state to a smectic phase. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 69, No. 11, 832–837 (10 June 1999)