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Luo Y, Marcus GG, Trump BA, Kindervater J, Stone MB, Rodriguez-Rivera JA, Qiu Y, McQueen TM, Tchernyshyov O, Broholm C. Low-energy magnons in the chiral ferrimagnet Cu 2OSeO 3: A coarse-grained approach. Phys Rev B 2020; 101:10.1103/PhysRevB.101.144411. [PMID: 33655091 PMCID: PMC7919739 DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.101.144411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
We report a comprehensive neutron scattering study of low energy magnetic excitations in the breathing pyrochlore helimagnetic Cu2OSeO3. Fully documenting the four lowest energy magnetic modes that leave the ferrimagnetic configuration of the "strong tetrahedra" intact ( | ℏ ω | < 13 meV), we find gapless quadratic dispersion at the point for energies above 0.2 meV, two doublets separated by 1.6(2) meV at the R point, and a bounded continuum at the X point. Our constrained rigid spin cluster model relates these features to Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interactions and the incommensurate helical ground state. Combining conventional spin wave theory with a spin cluster form factor accurately reproduces the measured equal time structure factor through multiple Brillouin zones. An effective spin Hamiltonian describing complex anisotropic intercluster interactions is obtained.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Luo
- Institute for Quantum Matter and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
| | - G. G. Marcus
- Institute for Quantum Matter and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
| | - B. A. Trump
- NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-6102, USA
| | - J. Kindervater
- Institute for Quantum Matter and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
| | - M. B. Stone
- Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
| | - J. A. Rodriguez-Rivera
- NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-6102, USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
| | - Yiming Qiu
- NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-6102, USA
| | - T. M. McQueen
- Institute for Quantum Matter and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
| | - O. Tchernyshyov
- Institute for Quantum Matter and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
| | - C. Broholm
- Institute for Quantum Matter and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
- NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-6102, USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
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Trump BA, Koohpayeh SM, Livi KJT, Wen JJ, Arpino KE, Ramasse QM, Brydson R, Feygenson M, Takeda H, Takigawa M, Kimura K, Nakatsuji S, Broholm CL, McQueen TM. Universal geometric frustration in pyrochlores. Nat Commun 2018; 9:2619. [PMID: 29976983 PMCID: PMC6033937 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05033-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2017] [Accepted: 06/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Materials with the pyrochlore/fluorite structure have diverse technological applications, from magnetism to nuclear waste disposal. Here we report the observation of structural instability present in the pyrochlores A2Zr2O6Oʹ (A = Pr, La) and Yb2Ti2O6Oʹ, that exists despite ideal stoichiometry, ideal cation-ordering, the absence of lone pair effects, and a lack of magnetic order. Though these materials appear to have good long-range order, local structure probes find displacements, of the order of 0.01 nm, within the pyrochlore framework. The pattern of displacements of the A2Oʹ sublattice mimics the entropically-driven fluxional motions characteristic of and well-known in the silica mineral β-cristobalite. The universality of such displacements within the pyrochlore structure adds to the known structural diversity and explains the extreme sensitivity to composition found in quantum spin ices and the lack of ferroelectric behavior in pyrochlores. The family of pyrochlore complex oxides includes many materials of fundamental or practical interest, such as spin ices and dielectrics. Trump et al. show that flexibility of the pyrochlores’ structure leads to local displacements that explain some of their unusual physical properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- B A Trump
- NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899, USA.,Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA.,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Institute for Quantum Matter, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - S M Koohpayeh
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Institute for Quantum Matter, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - K J T Livi
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - J-J Wen
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Institute for Quantum Matter, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - K E Arpino
- Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA.,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Institute for Quantum Matter, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - Q M Ramasse
- SuperSTEM Laboratory, STFC Daresbury Campus, Daresbury, WA4 4AD, UK
| | - R Brydson
- School of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK
| | - M Feygenson
- Jülich Center for Neutron Science, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52425, Jülich, Germany
| | - H Takeda
- Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8581, Japan
| | - M Takigawa
- Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8581, Japan
| | - K Kimura
- Division of Materials Physics, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, 560-8531, Japan
| | - S Nakatsuji
- Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8581, Japan
| | - C L Broholm
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Institute for Quantum Matter, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA.,Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - T M McQueen
- Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA. .,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Institute for Quantum Matter, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA. .,Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA.
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Wen JJ, Koohpayeh SM, Ross KA, Trump BA, McQueen TM, Kimura K, Nakatsuji S, Qiu Y, Pajerowski DM, Copley JRD, Broholm CL. Disordered Route to the Coulomb Quantum Spin Liquid: Random Transverse Fields on Spin Ice in Pr_{2}Zr_{2}O_{7}. Phys Rev Lett 2017; 118:107206. [PMID: 28339241 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.118.107206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Inelastic neutron scattering reveals a broad continuum of excitations in Pr_{2}Zr_{2}O_{7}, the temperature and magnetic field dependence of which indicate a continuous distribution of quenched transverse fields (Δ) acting on the non-Kramers Pr^{3+} crystal field ground state doublets. Spin-ice correlations are apparent within 0.2 meV of the Zeeman energy. A random phase approximation provides an excellent account of the data with a transverse field distribution ρ(Δ)∝(Δ^{2}+Γ^{2})^{-1}, where Γ=0.27(1) meV. Established during high temperature synthesis due to an underlying structural instability, it appears disorder in Pr_{2}Zr_{2}O_{7} actually induces a quantum spin liquid.
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Affiliation(s)
- J-J Wen
- Institute for Quantum Matter and Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
- Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
- Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2575 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA
| | - S M Koohpayeh
- Institute for Quantum Matter and Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
| | - K A Ross
- Institute for Quantum Matter and Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
- NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
| | - B A Trump
- Department of Chemistry, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
| | - T M McQueen
- Institute for Quantum Matter and Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
- Department of Chemistry, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
| | - K Kimura
- Institute for Solid State Physics (ISSP), University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8581, Japan
- Division of Materials Physics, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan
| | - S Nakatsuji
- Institute for Solid State Physics (ISSP), University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8581, Japan
- CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
| | - Y Qiu
- NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
| | - D M Pajerowski
- NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
| | - J R D Copley
- NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
| | - C L Broholm
- Institute for Quantum Matter and Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
- NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
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