Specific heat and magnetization study on single crystals of a frustrated, quasi one-dimensional oxide: Ca3Co2O6

Specific heat and magnetization measurements have been carried out under a range of magnetic fields on single crystals of Ca3Co2O6. This compound is composed of Ising magnetic chains that are arranged on a triangular lattice. The intrachain and interchain couplings are ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic, respectively. This situation gives rise to geometrical frustration, that bears some similarity to the classical problem of a two-dimensional Ising triangular antiferromagnet. This paper reports on the ordering process at low-T and the possibility of one-dimensional features at high-T.