Magnetic and thermodynamic studies on the distorted kagome magnet Pr$_3$BWO$_9$

Abstract

We report specific heat, ac/dc magnetic susceptibility as well as static and pulsed field magnetization studies on the distorted kagome magnet Pr$_3$BWO$_9$ down to 0.4~K and up to high magnetic fields. The low-temperature thermodynamic properties are found to be governed by an electronic quasi-doublet ground state; the energy splitting of which amounts to $\Delta_1\simeq 18$ K and exhibits a quadratic field dependence with $g_\mathrm{eff} = 2.6$. Fitting of the specific heat data implies that the next excited state is strongly gapped at $\Delta_2=430$ K and three-fold degenerate in zero field. Our dc and ac susceptibility studies down to 0.4 K do not detect signatures of distinct spin glass behavior. Pulsed field magnetization measurements up to 60 T confirm the Ising-like paramagnetic nature of the magnetic ground state which is characterized by $m_J=\pm 4$ and the anisotropy energy $E_a\simeq 950$ K.