Formation of collective spins in frustrated clusters
J. Robert, V. Simonet, B. Canals, R. Ballou, E. Lhotel, C. Darie, P. Bordet, B. Ouladdiaf, M. Johnson, J. Ollivier, D. Braithwaite, H. Rakoto, and S. de Brion

Using magnetization, specific heat and neutron scattering measurements, as well as exact calculations on realistic models, the magnetic properties of the \lacuvo compound are characterized on a wide temperature range. At high temperature, this oxide is well described by strongly correlated atomic $S$=1/2 spins while decreasing the temperature it switches to a set of weakly interacting and randomly distributed entangled pseudo spins $\tilde S=1/2$ and $\tilde S=0$. These pseudo-spins are built over frustrated clusters, similar to the kagom\'e building block, at the vertices of a triangular superlattice, the geometrical frustration intervening then at different scales.

© 2008 The American Physical Society.