Effect of impurities on the long-distance and Zhang-Rice dimers in the quantum magnet Sr14Cu24O41.

We study the effect of impurities on the two types of spin-dimers in the hybrid chain-ladder spin 1/2 quantum magnet Sr[Formula: see text]Cu[Formula: see text]O[Formula: see text]. Four different impurities were used, namely, the non-magnetic Zn (0.0025 and 0.01 per Cu) and Al (0.0025 and 0.01 per Cu), and magnetic Ni (0.0025 and 0.01 per Cu) and Co (0.01, 0.03, 0.05 and 0.1 per Cu). These impurities were doped in high-quality single-crystals synthesized by the floating-zone method. The magnetic susceptibility of pristine Sr[Formula: see text]Cu[Formula: see text]O[Formula: see text] is analyzed rigorously to confirm that at low temperatures ([Formula: see text] K), the 'free' spins in the chains undergo a long-distance dimerization as proposed in a recent study (Sahling et al 2015 Nat. Phys. 11 255). The effect of impurity on these dimers is analyzed by measuring the specific heat down to [Formula: see text] K. We found that even at the lower impurity concentration, the long-distance dimers are significantly severed but the quantum entangled spin dimerized state of the chains persists. On the other hand, the other type of spin dimers that form at relatively higher temperatures via an intervening Zhang-Rice singlet are found to be practically unaffected at the lower impurity concentration; but at 1% doping these dimers are considerably severed. The effect of Co impurity turned out to be most unusual displaying a strongly anisotropic response, and with a dimerization gap that suppresses faster along the chain/ladder direction than perpendicular to it as a function of increasing Co concentration.

Effects of Quantum Spin-1/2 Impurities on the Magnetic Properties of Zigzag Spin Chains.

We investigate the effect of Co^{2+} (spin-1/2) impurities on the magnetic ground state and low-lying spin excitations of the quasione-dimensional spin-1/2 antiferromagnet SrCuO_{2} by means of neutron scattering, muon spin spectroscopy, and bulk (ac and dc) magnetic susceptibilities. We found that dilute Co doping induces an Ising-like anisotropy and enhances the magnetic ordering temperature rather significantly, but preserves the gapless nature of the spin excitations. These results are in apparent contradiction with the recent studies of Ni (spin-1) doped SrCuO_{2}. Low-temperature magnetic behavior of the Co-doped zigzag chains in SrCuO_{2} reveals the presence of a weak geometrical spin frustration.