Antiferromagnetic ordering in the spin singlet state of the ladder/chain material: Sr2.5Ca11.5Cu24O41

We report on specific heat and neutron scattering measurements performed fo r Sr14-xCaxCu24O41 Single crystals. The specific heat data of Sr2.5Ca11.5Cu 24O41 showed a sharp phase transition at T(N)approximate to 2.1 K, indicati ng the possible onset of a long-range order. Specific heat measurements und er magnetic fields also revealed that this phase transition is not due to c harge ordering or structural phase transition but to magnetic ordering. In the neutron scattering experiments, we observed several Bragg peaks, corres ponding to the magnetic ordering observed in the specific heat measurements . Furthermore, we confirmed from polarized neutron scattering measurements that these Bragg peaks are undoubtedly magnetic in origin. Considering both the nuclear magnetic resonance and neutron scattering data, a possible mag netic structure on the chain and ladder sites has been proposed. In this sy stem, the singlet state and antiferromagnetic order induced by appropriate hole-doping coexist at ambient pressure and the dissolved hole pairs move u nder high pressure, leading to the occurrence of superconductivity.