Elemental analysis and magnetism of hydronium jarosites--model kagome antiferromagnets and topological spin glasses

The jarosites are the most studied examples of kagome antiferromagnets. Research into them has inspired new directions in magnetism, such as the role of the Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction in symmetry breaking, kagome spin ice, and whether spin glass-like phases can exist in the disorder-free limit. This last point is based around the observation of unconventional thermodynamic and kinetic responses in hydronium jarosite, H(3)OFe(3)(SO(4))(2)(OH)(6), that have led to its classification as a 'topological' spin glass, reflecting the defining role that the underlying geometry of the kagome lattice plays in the formation of the spin glass state. In this paper we explore one of the fundamental questions concerning the frustrated magnetism in hydronium jarosite: whether the spin glass phase is the result of chemical disorder and concomitant randomness in the exchange interactions. Confirming previous crystallographic studies, we use elemental analysis to show that the nature of the low temperature magnetic state is not a simple function of chemical disorder and provide evidence to support the hypothesis that anisotropies drive the spin glass transition.