Structural Transitions and Magnetic Structure in NH4CuCl3 via 14N-NMR

Abstract

We report results of 14N-NMR experiments on NH4CuCl3 at the magnetic field of 7 T, where the 1/4-magnetization plateau is observed at low temperatures. The quadrupole splitting parameter $ν_{z}$ splits below 70 K, indicating a structural phase transition. At 4.2 K, eight N sites with distinct values of both $ν_{z}$ and the magnetic hyperfine shift $K_{z}$ are resolved in the NMR spectrum for general field directions. We then conlude that the magnetic structure in the 1/4-plateau does not break the symmetry of the crystal. Based on the NMR and the recent neutron scattering results by Ruegg et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 93 (2004) 037207], we propose that triplet dimers in the 1/4-plateau is formed not between the nearest neighbor pairs but over different chains.