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Based on our earlier hypothesis of weak nonlocality, we developed a method for calculating the temperature dependences of the width and specific energy of the interphase boundary for binary substitutional alloys, using the concentration dependence of the internal energy or the equilibrium phase diagram of the alloy. Numerically calculated temperature dependences of the solubility limits, specific energy, and thickness of the interphase boundary are presented for three thermodynamic models: the regular solution model (Nb–Cu alloy), the quasi-regular solution model, and the general case (Fe–Cu alloy and A–B alloy that differs from Fe–Cu in the sign of excess entropy).

Uniform quasi-one-dimensional integer spin compounds are of interest as a potential realization of the Haldane conjecture of a gapped spin liquid. This phase, however, has to compete with magnetic anisotropy and long-range ordered phases, the implementation of which depends on the ratio of interchain J′ and intrachain J exchange interactions and both uniaxial D and rhombic E single-ion anisotropies. Strontium nickel selenite chloride, Sr2Ni(SeO3)2Cl2, is a spin-1 chain system which passes through a correlations regime at Tmax ~ 12 K to long-range order at TN = 6 K. under external magnetic field it experiences the sequence of spin-flop at Bc1 = 9.0 T and spin-flip transitions Bc2 = 23.7 T prior to full saturation at Bsat = 31.0 T. Density functional theory provides values of the main exchange interactions and uniaxial anisotropy which corroborate the experimental findings. The values of J′/J = 0.083 and D/J = 0.357 place this compound into a hitherto unoccupied sector of the Sakai-Takahashi phase diagram. © 2021, The Author(s). Support by the P220 program of Government of Russia through the project 075-15-2021-604 is acknowledged. ANV acknowledges support by the RFBR Grant 19-02-00015. Work at Heidelberg was supported by BMBF via the project SpinFun (13XP5088) and by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy EXC2181/1-390900948 (the Heidelberg STRUCTURES Excellence Cluster) and through project KL 1824/13-1. We acknowledge the support of the HLD-HZDR, member of the European Magnetic Field Laboratory (EMFL). Theoretical calculations using density functional theory were supported by the Russian Science Foundation via project 20-62-46047. Experimental research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation via project 19-42-02010.

We have investigated the spin and oxidation states of Co in Co3BO5 using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and dc magnetic susceptibility measurements. At low temperatures, XMCD experiments have been performed at the Co K-edge in Co3BO5 and Co2FeBO5 single crystals in the fully ferrimagnetically ordered phase. The Co (K-edge) XMCD signal is found to be related to the Co2+ magnetic sublattices in both compounds, providing strong experimental support for the low-spin (LS) Co3+ scenario. The paramagnetic susceptibility is highly anisotropic. An estimation of the effective magnetic moment in the temperature range 100–250 K correlates well with two Co2+ ions in the high-spin (HS) state and some orbital contribution, while Co3+ remains in the LS state. The crystal structure of the Co3BO5 single crystal has been solved in detail at the T range 296–703 K. The unit cell parameters and volume show anomalies at 500 and 700 K. The octahedral environment of the Co4 site strongly changes with heating. The generalized gradient approximation with Hubbard U correction calculations have revealed that, at low-temperatures, the system is insulating with a band gap of 1.4 eV, and the Co2+ ions are in the HS state, while Co3+ are in the LS state. At high temperatures (T > 700 K), the charge ordering disappears, and the system becomes metallic with all Co ions in 3d7 electronic configuration and HS state., We are grateful to the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project No. 20-02-00559) and President Council on Grants (Project No. МК-2339.2020.2) for supporting this paper. This paper was carried out within the state assignment of the Russian Ministry of Science and High Education via program “Quantum”’ (No. AAAA-A18-118020190095-4). We also acknowledge support by Russian Ministry of Education and Science via Contract No. 02.A03.21.0006. We acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO, Grant No. MAT2017-83468-R) and from the regional Government of Aragon (E12-20R RASMIA project).

CuAl

CuAl2O4 is a normal spinel oxide having quantum spin, S=1/2 for Cu2+. It is a rather unique feature that the Cu2+ ions of CuAl2O4 sit at a tetrahedral position, not like the usual octahedral position for many oxides. At low temperatures, it exhibits all the thermodynamic evidence of a quantum spin glass. For example, the polycrystalline CuAl2O4 shows a cusp centered at ~2 K in the low-field dc magnetization data and a clear frequency dependence in the ac magnetic susceptibility while it displays logarithmic relaxation behavior in a time dependence of the magnetization. At the same time, there is a peak at ~2.3 K in the heat capacity, which shifts towards higher temperature with magnetic fields. On the other hand, there is no evidence of new superlattice peaks in the high-resolution neutron powder diffraction data when cooled from 40 to 0.4 K. This implies that there is no long-ranged magnetic order down to 0.4 K, thus confirming a spin glass-like ground state for CuAl2O4. Interestingly, there is no sign of structural distortion either although Cu2+ is a Jahn-Teller active ion. Thus, we claim that an orbital liquid state is the most likely ground state in CuAl2O4. Of further interest, it also exhibits a large frustration parameter, f = Theta_CW/Tm ~67, one of the largest values reported for spinel oxides. Our observations suggest that CuAl2O4 should be a rare example of a frustrated quantum spin glass with a good candidate for an orbital liquid state., J. Phys. Condens Matter (accepted): 20 pages, 4 figures, 1 Table

The magnetic properties of LixCoO2 for x = 0.94, 0.75, 0.66, and 0.51 are investigated within the method combining the generalized gradient approximation with dynamical mean field theory (GGA + DMFT). A delicate interplay between Hund’s exchange energy and t2g−eg crystal field splitting is found to be responsible for the high-spin to low-spin state transition for Co4+ ions. The GGA + DMFT calculations show that the Co4+ ions at a small doping level adopt the high-spin state, while delithiation leads to an increase in the crystal field splitting and low-spin state becomes preferable. The Co3+ ions are found to stay in the low-spin configuration for any x values. © 2016, Pleiades Publishing, Inc.