β-Cu₃V₂O₈: magnetic ordering in a spin-1/2 Kagomé-staircase lattice

The spin-1/2 Cu²⁺ ions in β-Cu₃V₂O₈ occupy the sites of a Kagomé-staircase lattice, an anisotropic variant of the Kagomé net: buckled layers and imbedded plaquettes of three edge-shared CuO₄ squares break the ideal Kagomé symmetry. Susceptibility and heat capacity measurements show the onset of short-range ordering at approximately 75 K, and a magnetic phase transition with the characteristics of antiferromagnetism at ∼ 29 K. Comparison to the Curie–Weiss theta (θ_CW = −135 K) indicates that the geometric frustration is largely relieved by the anisotropy.