Kinetic Arrest of Field-Temperature Induced First Order Phase Transition in Quasi- One Dimensional Spin System Ca3Co2O6

TL;DR

This study demonstrates kinetic arrest of a first order phase transition in Ca3Co2O6, a quasi-one-dimensional spin system, revealing coexistence of phases and metastability due to geometrical frustration and uniaxial anisotropy.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence of kinetic arrest and phase coexistence in a geometrically frustrated spin chain compound using magnetization protocols.

Findings

Kinetic arrest of phase transition observed in Ca3Co2O6.

Coexistence of intermediate and ferrimagnetic phases at low temperatures.

Metastable states persist down to spin freezing temperature.

Abstract

We have found that the geometrically frustrated spin chain compound Ca3Co2O6 belonging to Ising like universality class with uniaxial anisotropy shows kinetic arrest of first order intermediate phase (IP) to ferrimagnetic (FIM) transition. In this system, dc magnetization measurements followed by different protocols suggest the coexistence of high temperature IP with equilibrium FIM phase in low temperature. Formation of metastable state due to hindered first order transition has also been probed through cooling and heating in unequal field (CHUF) protocol. Kinetically arrested high temperature IP appears to persist down to almost the spin freezing temperature in this system.