Thermal Analysis of Freedom of Spin in Partially Disordered State of the Antiferromagnetic Triangular Lattice in CuFeO2

Abstract
The partially disordered spins in the triangular antiferromagnetic lattice in CuFeO 2 have been studied by heat capacity measurements. A cusp and a sharp peak in the heat capacity curve were observed at T N1 =14.0±0.5 K and T N2 =11.0±0.5 K, respectively. The analysis of heat capacity revealed that the magnetic entropy associated with the anomaly in the heat capacity around T N2 is attributable to the disordering of one-fifth of Fe 3+ spins. The present result is discussed in comparison with partially disordered states of CeSb and PrCo 2 Si 2 , anisotropic spin systems with frustration. The heat capacity cusp around T N1 is compared with the characteristic thermal behavior for frustrated spin systems.

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