Magnetic Phase Diagrams and Magnetization Plateaus of the Spin-1/2 Antiferromagnetic Heisenberg Model on a Square-Kagome Lattice with Three Nonequivalent Exchange Interactions

Magnetization plateaus in quantum spin systems emerge in two-dimensional frustrated systems such as a kagome lattice. The spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on a square-kagome lattice is also appropriate for the study of the magnetization plateau. Motivated by recent experimental findings of such a square kagome lattice with three nonequivalent bonds, we investigate the phase diagrams and magnetization plateaus of the lattice using the exact diagonalization method. In addition to the previously reported 1/3 and 2/3 plateaus in the model with two equivalent bonds, we find a new 2/3 plateau whose magnetic structure is characterized by spontaneously broken four-fold rotational symmetry. The plateau appears only in the case of three nonequivalent bonds. We propose the possibility of finding plateaus including the new one.