High field magnetisation of the frustrated one dimensional quantum antiferromagnet LiCuVO4

Abstract

We have investigated the high field magnetisation of the frustrated one dimensional compound LiCuVO4. In zero field, LiCuVO4 undergoes long range antiferromagnetic order at T_{N} ~ 2.5 K with a broad short range Schottky type anomaly due to one dimensional correlations in the specific heat at 32 K. Application of a magnetic field induces a rich phase diagram. An anomaly in the derivative of the magnetisation with respect to the applied magnetic field is seen at ~ 7.5 T with H ll c in the long range order phase. We investigated this in terms of a first experimental evidence of a middle field cusp singularity (MFCS). Our numerical DMRG results show that in the parameter range of LiCuVO4 as deduced by inelastic neutron scattering (INS), there exists no MFCS. The anomaly in the derivative of the magnetisation at ~ 7.5 T is therfore assigned to a change in the spin structure from the ab plane helix seen in zero field neutron diffraction.