Fritsch V, Hemberger J, Büttgen N, Scheidt E-W, Krug von Nidda H-A, Loidl A, Tsurkan V
Experimentalphysik V, Center for Electronic Correlations and Magnetism, Institut für Physik, Universität Augsburg, D-86159 Augsburg, Germany.
Phys Rev Lett. 2004 Mar 19;92(11):116401. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.116401. Epub 2004 Mar 18.
Crystal structure, magnetic susceptibility, and specific heat were measured in the normal cubic spinel compounds MnSc2S4 and FeSc2S4. Down to the lowest temperatures, both compounds remain cubic and reveal strong magnetic frustration. Specifically the Fe compound is characterized by a Curie-Weiss (CW) temperature ThetaCW = -45 K and does not show any indications of order down to 50 mK. In addition, the Jahn-Teller ion Fe2+ is orbitally frustrated. Hence, FeSc2S4 belongs to the rare class of spin-orbital liquids. MnSc2S4 is a spin liquid for temperatures T>TN approximately 2 K.
