We report on high-field magnetization measurements for a number of layered
vanadium phosphates that were recently recognized as spin-1/2 frustrated square
lattice compounds with ferromagnetic nearest-neighbor couplings (J_1) and
antiferromagnetic next-nearest-neighbor couplings (J_2). The saturation fields
of the materials lie in the range from 4 to 24 T and show excellent agreement
with the previous estimates of the exchange couplings deduced from low-field
thermodynamic measurements. The consistency of the high-field data with the
regular frustrated square lattice model provides experimental evidence for a
weak impact of spatial anisotropy on the nearest-neighbor couplings in layered
vanadium phosphates. The variation of the J_2/J_1 ratio within the compound
family facilitates the experimental access to the evolution of the
magnetization curve upon the change of the frustration magnitude. Our results
support the recent theoretical prediction by Thalmeier et al. [Phys. Rev. B,
77, 104441 (2008)] and give evidence for the enhanced bending of the
magnetization curves due to the increasing frustration of the underlying spin
system.Comment: Brief Report: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
