Magnetization Jump in the Magnetization Process of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg Antiferromagnet on a Distorted Square-Kagome Lattice

Abstract

We study the magnetization process of the spin-$1/2$ Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a distorted square-kagome lattice by the numerical-diagonalization method. The magnetization jump at one-third of the height of the saturation is examined in detail; we find that the jump becomes larger when a small distortion is switched on and that it is accompanied by an abrupt change in lines along microscopic spin directions. Our finite-size results successfully confirm that the magnetization jump in a spin-isotropic system is a macroscopic jump that survives in the thermodynamic limit and that the changes in spin directions are common to a spin-flop phenomenon observed in spin-anisotropic systems.