Zigzag ladders with staggered magnetic chirality in the S=(3)/(2) compound β-CaCr 2 O 4

摘要: The crystal and magnetic structures of the S=3/2 antiferromagnet β-CaCr2O4 have been investigated by means specific heat, magnetization, muon relaxation, neutron powder diffraction between 300 1.5 K. In this compound, in which unusual topology Cr3+ lattice can be described as a network triangular “zigzag” ladders with legs parallel to c, complex antiferromagnetic ordering an incommensurate propagation vector k=(0,0,q) (q∼0.477 at K) is evidenced below TN=21 K. This honeycomblike arrangement cycloids, running along presenting unique pattern staggered chirality. To understand experimental observation chirality, we propose use antisymmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya terms exchange Hamiltonian.