Magnetic exchange in a low-dimensional complex oxide (Cu,Zn)2V2O7

Abstract Copper-divanadate Cu 2− y Zn y V 2 O 7 comprises trans-edge sharing chains of CuO 5 polyhedra where Cu spins S= 1 2 are antiferromagnetically coupled. Zn substitution for Cu induces a structural phase transition which affects strongly the magnetic properties. In particular, a substantial magnetic anisotropy found in one of the structural phases is strongly suppressed in the other one, owing to the changes of the local bonding geometry.