A plausible investigation of low dimensional magnetism in a 3D spin system PrVO4.

Abstract

3D spin systems provide an important platform to investigate the novel magnetic behaviors, which arise due to the complex network of spins in such materials. In this context, we have studied a rare-earth orthovanadate PrVO4, in which the distorted PrO8 polyhedral results in complex spin geometries made by the near neighbor Pr atoms. The fourth near neighbor Pr atoms form linear chains, which are separated by non-magnetic VO4 tetrahedra. DC magnetic susceptibility reveals a broad maximum and its position remains unaltered under applied magnetic field. The magnetic heat capacity shows a broad maximum with almost zero value at low temperatures. This indicates the presence of spin gap in the excitation spectra and hints toward the possibility of low dimensional magnetism. Our investigations reveal that PrVO4 can be a potential candidate to study low dimensional magnetism in rare-earth-based systems.