The frustration of antiferromagnetic interactions on the loosely connected kagome lattice associated to the enhancement of quantum fluctuations for S=1/2 spins was acknowledged long ago as a keypoint to stabilize novel ground states of magnetic matter. Only very recently, the model compound Herbersmithite, ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2, a structurally perfect kagome antiferromagnet, could be synthesized and enables a close comparison to theories. We review and classify various experimental results obtained over the past years and underline some of the pending issues.
@article{arxiv.1001.0801,
title = {Quantum Kagome antiferromagnet ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2},
author = {Philippe Mendels and Fabrice Bert},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1001.0801},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
23 pages, 16 figures, invited paper in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn, special topics issue on "Novel States of Matter Induced by Frustration", to be published in Jan. 2010