Spin configurations in a kagomé-based frustrated antiferromagnet: analysis of dynamic disorder by the reverse Monte Carlo method.

Non-collinear local configurations with null total moment are expected to be a hallmark of geometrically frustrated antiferromagnets. We attempt an experimental verification of such ideas in SrCr[sub 9x]Ga[sub 12-9x]O[sub 19] (SCGO), using the reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) analysis, recently adapted to the investigation of the magnetic correlations starting from total scattering powder data. The microscopic spin configurations obtained by RMC were used to calculate the spin nematic correlation function proposed to be of importance for classical spins on the kagomé lattice. In the low-temperature range our analysis shows a strong deviation from the behaviour of classical spins on the SCGO lattice obtained with our standard Monte Carlo simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]