Magnetization plateaus of spin- 12 system on a 5/7 skewed ladder

Abstract

Magnetization plateaus are some of the most striking manifestations of frustration in low-dimensional spin systems. We present numerical studies of magnetization plateaus in the fascinating spin-1/2 skewed ladder system obtained by alternately fusing five- and seven-membered rings. This system exhibits three significant plateaus at $m = 1/4$, $1/2$ and $3/4$, consistent with the Oshikawa-Yamanaka-Affleck condition. Our numerical as well as perturbative analysis shows that the ground state can be approximated by three weakly coupled singlet dimers and two free spins, in the absence of a magnetic field. With increasing applied magnetic field, the dimers progressively become triplets with large energy gaps to excited states, giving rise to stable magnetization plateaus. Finite-temperature studies show that $m=1/4$ and $1/2$ plateaus are robust and survive thermal fluctuations while the $m=3/4$ plateau shrinks rapidly due to thermal noise. The cusps at the ends of a plateau follow the algebraic square-root dependence on $B$.