Incommensurate phase of a triangular frustrated Heisenberg model studied via Schwinger-boson mean-field theory.

We study a triangular frustrated antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model with nearest-neighbor interactions J(1) and third-nearest-neighbor interactions J(3) by means of Schwinger-boson mean-field theory. By setting an antiferromagnetic J(3) and varying J(1) from positive to negative values, we disclose the low-temperature features of its interesting incommensurate phase. The gapless dispersion of quasiparticles leads to the intrinsic T(2) law of specific heat. The magnetic susceptibility is linear in temperature. The local magnetization is significantly reduced by quantum fluctuations. We address possible relevance of these results to the low-temperature properties of NiGa(2)S(4). From a careful analysis of the incommensurate spin wavevector, the interaction parameters are estimated as J(1)≈-3.8755 K and J(3)≈14.0628 K, in order to account for the experimental data.