Quasi-2D XY magnetic properties and slow relaxation in a body centered metal organic network of [Co₄] clusters

Abstract

Octahedral Co²⁺ centers have been connected by μ₃-OH and μ₂-OH₂ units forming [Co₄] clusters which are linked by pyrazine forming a two-dimensional network. The two-dimensional layers are bridged by oxybisbenzoate (OBA) ligands giving rise to a three-dimensional structure. The [Co₄] clusters bond with the pyrazine and the OBA results in a body-centered arrangement of the clusters, which has been observed for the first time. Magnetic studies reveal a noncollinear frustrated spin structure of the bitriangular cluster, resulting in a net magnetic moment of 1.4 μB per cluster. For T > 32 K, the correlation length of the cluster moments shows a stretched-exponential temperature dependence typical of a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless model, which points to a quasi-2D XY behavior. At lower temperature and down to 14 K, the compound behaves as a soft ferromagnet and a slow relaxation is observed, with an energy barrier of ca. 500 K. Then, on further cooling, a hysteretic behavior takes place with a coercive field that reaches 5 T at 4 K. The slow relaxation is assigned to the creation/annihilation of vortex-antivortex pairs, which are the elementary excitations of a 2D XY spin system.