Spin Susceptibility and Superexchange Interaction in the Antiferromagnet CuO

Evidence for the quasi one-dimensional (1D) antiferromagnetism of CuO is presented in a framework of Heisenberg model. We have obtained an experimental absolute value of the paramagnetic spin susceptibility of CuO by subtracting the orbital susceptibility separately from the total susceptibility through the ${}^{63}$Cu NMR shift measurement, and compared directly with the theoretical predictions. The result is best described by a 1D $S=1\mathrm{/}2$ antiferromagnetic Heisenberg (AFH) model, supporting the speculation invoked by earlier authors. We also present a semi-quantitative reason why CuO, seemingly of 3D structure, is unexpectedly a quasi 1D antiferromagnet.