We report the determination of the Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction, the dominant magnetic anisotropy term in the \kagome spin-1/2 compound {\herbert}. Based on the analysis of the high-temperature electron spin resonance (ESR) spectra, we find its main component ∣Dz∣=15(1) K to be perpendicular to the \kagome planes. Through the temperature dependent ESR line-width we observe a building up of nearest-neighbor spin-spin correlations below ∼150 K.
@article{arxiv.0804.3107,
title = {Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya Anisotropy in the Spin-1/2 Kagom\'e Compound ZnCu$_{3}$(OH)$_{6}$Cl$_{2}$},
author = {A. Zorko and S. Nellutla and J. van Tol and L. C. Brunel and F. Bert and F. Duc and J. C. Trombe and M. A. de Vries and A. Harrison and P. Mendels},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0804.3107},
year = {2009}
}