  It is known that the spin-chain compound Ca3Co2O6 exhibits very interesting
plateaus in the magnetization as a function of the magnetic field at low
temperatures. The origin of them is still controversial. In this paper we study
the thermal behavior of this compound with a single-flip Monte Carlo simulation
on a triangular lattice and demonstrate the decisive influence of metastable
states in the splitting of the ferrimagnetic 1/3 plateau below 10 K. We
consider the [Co2O6]n chains as giant magnetic moments described by large Ising
spins on planar clusters with open boundary conditions. With this simple
frozen-moment model we obtain stepped magnetization curves which agree quite
well with the experimental results for different sweeping rates. We describe
particularly the out-of-equilibrium states that split the low-temperature 1/3
plateau into three steps. They relax thermally to the 1/3 plateau, which has
long-range order at the equilibrium. Such states are further analyzed with
snapshots unveiling a domain-wall structure that is responsible for the
observed behavior of the 1/3 plateau. A comparison is also given of the exact
results in small triangular clusters with our Monte Carlo results, providing
further support for our thermal description of this compound.
