Magnetic behavior of the spin-chain compound, Ca<SUB>3</SUB>CuRuO<SUB>6</SUB>

A spin-chain compound, Ca3CuRuO6, forming in a K4CdCl6-derived monoclinic structure, has been synthesized via solid state route and subjected to magnetization (M) and heat capacity (C) measurements. This compound is found to undergo magnetic ordering (To) around 40 K. However, the magnitude of the paramagnetic Curie temperature (θp) is large (-277 K). Very small ratio of To/θp suggests the existence of magnetic frustration presumably arising from the triangular arrangement of antiferromagnetically coupled ferromagnetic chains. This frustration however does not lead to spin-glass freezing at low temperatures, as there is no prominent feature in the ACχ around 40 K. Considering that the peak in C(T) around 40 K is very weak, we conclude that this material exhibits inhomogeneous magnetism despite being stoichiometric, possibly as a manifestation of some degree of Ca-Cu site-disorder