Structural studies of the pyrochlore-related spin-1/2 system Ag2Cu2O3

Abstract Neutron and X-ray powder diffraction studies have been carried out for a pyrochlore-related system Ag 2 Cu 2 O 3 . The magnetic susceptibility and specific heat have also been measured. It has been found that a slight monoclinic distortion exists even at room temperature, contradicting with the result of a former report. At around the magnetic transition temperature ∼70 K, the monoclinic distortion begins to increase with decreasing temperature, indicating that the structural distortion and the magnetic ordering couple to each other. A possible release of the frustration is discussed as the origin of the coupling.