High field magnetization of the frustrated one-dimensional quantum antiferromagnet LiCuVO4

We have investigated the high field magnetization of the frustrated one-dimensional compound LiCuVO4. In zero field, LiCuVO4 undergoes long range antiferromagnetic order at TN≈2.5 K with a broad short range Schottky type anomaly due to one-dimensional correlations in the specific heat at 32 K. Application of a magnetic field induces a rich phase diagram. An anomaly in the derivative of the magnetization with respect to the applied magnetic field is seen at ∼7.5 T with in the long range order phase. We investigated this in terms of a first experimental evidence of a middle field cusp singularity (MFCS). Our numerical density matrix renormalization group results show that in the parameter range of LiCuVO4 as deduced by inelastic neutron scattering (INS), there exists no MFCS. The anomaly in the derivative of the magnetization at ∼7.5 T is therefore assigned to a change in the spin structure from the ab plane helix seen in zero field neutron diffraction.