Muon Spin Relaxation Study of frustrated Tm$_3$Sb$_3$Mg$_2$O$_{14}$ with kagom\'{e} lattice

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic properties of Tm$_3$Sb$_3$Mg$_2$O$_{14}$ with a kagomé lattice, revealing short-range magnetic order and absence of long-range order down to 0.1 K, and compares it with a more disordered Tm-based kagomé compound.

Contribution

The paper provides detailed magnetic characterization of a nearly disorder-free Tm kagomé lattice, highlighting the effects of minimal site-mixing on magnetic behavior and spin liquid-like states.

Findings

No long-range magnetic order observed down to 0.1 K.

Short-range magnetic correlations are present.

Disorder influences the emergence of gapless spin liquid behaviors.

Abstract

The structure and magnetic properties of rare-earth ions Tm$^{3+}$ kagom\'{e} lattice Tm$_3$Sb$_3$Mg$_2$O$_{14}$ are studied by X-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility and muon spin relaxation ($\mu$SR) experiments. The existence of a small amount of Tm/Mg site-mixing disorder is revealed. DC magnetic susceptibility measurement shows that Tm$^{3+}$ magnetic moments are antiferromagnetically correlated with a negative Curie-Weiss temperature of -26.3 K. Neither long-range magnetic order nor spin-glass transition is observed by DC and AC magnetic susceptibility, and confirmed by $\mu$SR experiment down to 0.1 K. However, the emergence of short-range magnetic order is indicated by the zero-field $\mu$SR experiments, and the absence of spin dynamics at low temperatures is evidenced by the longitudinal-field $\mu$SR technique. Compared with the results of Tm$_3$Sb$_3$Zn$_2$O$_{14}$, another Tm-based kagom\'{e} lattice with much more site-mixing disorder, the gapless spin liquid like behaviors in Tm$_3$Sb$_3$Zn$_2$O$_{14}$ can be induced by disorder effect. Samples with perfect geometrical frustration are in urgent demand to establish whether QSL exits in this kind of materials with rare-earth kagom\'{e} lattice.