Magnetization process and collective excitations in the S=1/2 triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet Ba3CoSb2O9.

We have performed high-field magnetization and electronic spin resonance (ESR) measurements on Ba3CoSb2O9 single crystals, which approximates the two-dimensional (2D) S=1/2 triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet. For an applied magnetic field H parallel to the ab plane, the entire magnetization curve including the plateau at one-third of the saturation magnetization (Ms) is in excellent agreement with the results of theoretical calculations except a small step anomaly near (3/5)Ms, indicative of a theoretically undiscovered quantum phase transition. However, for H∥c, the magnetization curve exhibits a cusp near Ms/3 owing to the weak easy-plane anisotropy and the 2D quantum fluctuation.