Abstract
We studied kagome-like magnets, with ( in the triply degenerate states), as a geometrically frustrated spin system with orbital degrees of freedom. We observed a suppression of low-temperature spin entropy and an anomalous contraction of the V triangles on the kagome lattice, which can be regarded as the V trimerization with spin-singlet formation. This result, which is in clear contrast to their analogs exhibiting a spin-liquid behavior, indicates a substantial impact of orbitals on geometrically frustrated magnets.
- Received 24 April 2009
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.79.180410
©2009 American Physical Society