Abstract
NaCaNi2F7 is an insulating, frustrated A2B2F7 pyrochlore with magnetic S=1Ni2+ on the pyrochlore B site. Nonmagnetic Na and Ca are disordered on the A site. Magnetic susceptibility measurements made on an oriented single crystal, grown in a floating zone furnace, show isotropic behavior at temperatures between 5 and 300K, with an effective moment of 3.7μB/Ni. Despite displaying a large Curie-Weiss theta (-129K), spin-ordering-related features are not seen in the susceptibility or specific heat until a spin glass transition at 3.6K. This yields an empirical frustration index of f=-θCW/Tf≈36. The spin glass behavior is substantiated by a shift of the freezing temperature with frequency in the ac susceptibility, bifurcation in the dc susceptibility, and by a broad maximum in the magnetic specific heat. The observations as made on large single crystals suggest that NaCaNi2F7 is likely a realization of a frustrated spin 1 pyrochlore antiferromagnet with weak bond disorder.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 014406 |
Journal | Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics |
Volume | 92 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 7 2015 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics