Low temperature magnetization of the S=1/2 kagome antiferromagnet ZnCu₃(OH)₆Cl₂

The dc-magnetization of the unique S=1/2 kagome antiferromagnet Herbertsmithite has been measured down to 0.1K. No sign of spin freezing is observed in agreement with former muSR and ac-susceptibility results. The low temperature magnetic response is dominated by a defect contribution which exhibits a new energy scale $\simeq 1$ K, likely reflecting the coupling of the defects. The defect component is saturated at low temperature by H>8T applied magnetic fields which enables us to estimate an upper bound for the non saturated intrinsic kagome susceptibility at T=1.7K.