2018/01/31 by H. Jacobsen, S. M. Gaw, A. J. Princep +9 · 2 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Antiferromagnetism #Brillouin zone #Condensed matter physics #Ferromagnetism #Frustration #Hamiltonian (control theory) #Heisenberg model #Inelastic neutron scattering #Magnetism #Multiferroics and related materials #Neutron scattering #Physics #Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism #Quantum mechanics #Scattering #Spin (aerodynamics) #Spin wave #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.97.144401
published as Phys. Rev. B 97, 144401 (2018)
openalex publication_date 2018/04/02 · arxiv created 2018/04/05 · arxiv updated 2018/04/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The magnetic properties of CuO encompass several contemporary themes in condensed-matter physics, including quantum magnetism, magnetic frustration, magnetically-induced ferroelectricity, and orbital currents. Here we report polarized and unpolarized neutron inelastic scattering measurements which provide a comprehensive map of the cooperative spin dynamics in the low-temperature antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase of CuO throughout much of the Brillouin zone. At high energies (E\ensuremath\gtrsim100\phantom\rule0.28em0exmeV), the spectrum displays continuum features consistent with the des Cloizeax--Pearson dispersion for an ideal S=(1)/(2) Heisenberg AFM chain. At lower energies, the spectrum becomes more three dimensional, and we find that a linear spin-wave model for a Heisenberg AFM provides a very good description of the data, allowing for an accurate determination of the relevant exchange constants in an effective spin Hamiltonian for CuO. In the high-temperature helicoidal phase, there are features in the measured low-energy spectrum that we could not reproduce with a spin-only model. We discuss how these might be associated with the magnetically-induced multiferroic behavior observed in this phase.