Indication for a chiral phase in the molecular magnetic chain Gd(hfac)3NiTiPr by specific heat and $mu;+SR measurements

Abstract

Specific heat and muon spin relaxation (μ + SR) measurements performed in the molecular magnetic chain Gd(hfac) 3 NiTiPr provide indication for the onset, at T 0 =2.08 K , of a phase with chiral order in the absence of long-range helical order. Specific heat data (probing the chirality–chirality correlation function) show a peak at T 0 that disappears upon application of a 5 T magnetic field, while μ + SR data (probing the spin–spin correlation function) do not present any anomaly at T 0 nor oscillations in the asymmetry curve below T 0 .