Magnetic characterization of the frustrated three-leg ladder compound [(CuCl2tachH)3Cl]Cl2

TL;DR

This paper investigates a new one-dimensional copper triangle compound, revealing its frustrated magnetic interactions, a gapped spin singlet ground state, and the complex interplay of intra- and inter-triangle couplings.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed magnetic characterization of a frustrated three-leg ladder compound with competing interactions and a gapped ground state.

Findings

Intra- and inter-triangle interactions are of similar magnitude.

The ground state is a spin singlet with a gap to triplet excitations.

The compound exemplifies a frustrated cylindrical three-leg ladder.

Abstract

We report the magnetic features of a new one-dimensional stack of antiferromagnetically coupled equilateral copper(II) triangles. High-field magnetization measurements show that the interaction between the copper triangles is of the same order of magnitude as the intra-triangle exchange although only coupled via hydrogen bonds. The infinite chain turns out to be an interesting example of a frustrated cylindrical three-leg ladder with competing intra- and inter-triangle interactions. We demonstrate that the ground state is a spin singlet which is gaped from the triplet excitation.