Magnetic and thermodynamic studies on the distorted kagome magnet Pr$_3$BWO$_9$

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic and thermodynamic properties of the distorted kagome magnet Pr$_3$BWO$_9$, revealing a quasi-doublet ground state, a large energy gap to excited states, and an Ising-like paramagnetic behavior without spin glass signatures.

Contribution

The paper provides detailed thermodynamic and magnetic characterization of Pr$_3$BWO$_9$, identifying its ground state properties and magnetic anisotropy, which were previously unexplored.

Findings

Quasi-doublet ground state with 18 K splitting

Strongly gapped excited state at 430 K

Ising-like paramagnetic behavior confirmed up to 60 T

Abstract

We report specific heat, ac/dc magnetic susceptibility as well as static and pulsed field magnetization studies on the distorted kagome magnet Pr$_3$BWO$_9$ down to 0.4~K and up to high magnetic fields. The low-temperature thermodynamic properties are found to be governed by an electronic quasi-doublet ground state; the energy splitting of which amounts to $\Delta_1\simeq 18$ K and exhibits a quadratic field dependence with $g_\mathrm{eff} = 2.6$. Fitting of the specific heat data implies that the next excited state is strongly gapped at $\Delta_2=430$ K and three-fold degenerate in zero field. Our dc and ac susceptibility studies down to 0.4 K do not detect signatures of distinct spin glass behavior. Pulsed field magnetization measurements up to 60 T confirm the Ising-like paramagnetic nature of the magnetic ground state which is characterized by $m_J=\pm 4$ and the anisotropy energy $E_a\simeq 950$ K.