We report a high-resolution neutron diffraction study of the crystal and magnetic structure of the orbitally-degenerate frustrated metallic magnet AgNiO2. At high temperatures the structure is hexagonal with a single crystallographic Ni site, low-spin Ni3+ with spin-1/2 and two-fold orbital degeneracy, arranged in an antiferromagnetic triangular lattice with frustrated spin and orbital order. A structural transition occurs upon cooling below 365 K to a tripled hexagonal unit cell containing three crystallographically-distinct Ni sites with expanded and contracted NiO6 octahedra, naturally explained by spontaneous charge order on the Ni triangular layers. No Jahn-Teller distortions occur, suggesting that charge order occurs in order to lift the orbital degeneracy. Symmetry analysis of the inferred Ni charge order pattern and the observed oxygen displacement pattern suggests that the transition could be mediated by charge fluctuations at the Ni sites coupled to a soft oxygen optical phonon breathing mode. At low temperatures the electron-rich Ni sublattice (assigned to a valence close to Ni2+ with S = 1) orders magnetically into a collinear stripe structure of ferromagnetic rows ordered antiferromagnetically in the triangular planes. We discuss the stability of this uncommon spin order pattern in the context of an easy-axis triangular antiferromagnet with additional weak second neighbor interactions and interlayer couplings.
We investigate the impact of electron-lattice coupling on the stability of various magnetic orders in rare-earth nickelates. We use the Hartree-Fock approximation, at zero temperature, to study an effective, two-band model with correlations characterized by a Hubbard $U$ and a Hund's $J$. This is coupled to breathing-mode distortions of the octahedral oxygen cages, described semi-classically, with a Holstein term. We analyze the effect of the various parameters on the resulting phase diagram, in particular on the charge disproportionation and on the magnetic order. We confirm that the coupling…
This paper examines the relation between the spin-wave instabilities of collinear magnetic phases and the resulting non-collinear phases for a geometrically-frustrated triangular-lattice antiferromagnet in the high spin limit. Using a combination of phenomenological and Monte-Carlo techniques, we demonstrate that the instability wave-vector with the strongest intensity in the collinear phase determines the wave-vector of a cycloid or the dominant elastic peak of a more complex non-collinear phase. Our results are related to the observed multi-ferroic phase of Al-doped CuFeO$_2$.
We consider two partially frustrated S = 1/2 antiferromagnetic spin systems on the triangular and pentagonal lattices. In an elementary plaquette of the two lattices, one bond has exchange interaction strength $α$ ($α\leq 1$) whereas all other bonds have exchange interaction strength unity. We show that for $α$ less than a critical value $α_{c}$, collinear Néel-type ordering is possible in the ground state. The ground state energy and the excitation spectrum have been determined using linear spin wave theory based on the Holstein-Primakoff transformation.
While double perovskites A2BB'O6, if ordered, usually form a rock-salt-type structure with a checkerboard B/B' ordering, it is surprising that Ca2FeMnO6 has alternate FeO2 and MnO2 layers in its perovskite structure. Here we demonstrate, using density functional calculations, that this unusual layered ordering facilitates, and is largely helped by, the Fe3+-Fe5+ charge disproportionation (CD) of the formal Fe4+ ions, which would otherwise be frustrated in the common rock salt structure. To further verify the important role of the CD for stabilization of this layered ordering, we carry out a co…
Using Monte Carlo simulations, we study the critical behavior of two models of frustrated XY antiferromagnets with a collinear spin ordering and with an additional twofold degeneracy of the ground state. We consider a classic antiferromagnet on a body-centered cubic lattice with an additional antiferromagnetic exchange interaction between next-nearest spins, and a ferromagnet with an extra antiferromagnetic intralayer exchange. In both models, a single first-order transition on the discrete and continuous order parameters is found. Observed critical pseudo-exponents are in agreement with expon…
The chiral magneto-electric compound Ni3TeO6 is investigated through temperature-dependent synchrotron-based powder x-ray diffraction and x-ray absorption spectroscopy between 15 to 300 K. Our work provides direct evidence for the exchange-striction in the material around the concomitant onset point of collinear antiferromagnetic and magneto-electric phases. The x-ray absorption near edge spectra and x-ray photoelectron spectra show that the sample consists of both Ni2+ and Ni3+ ions in the lattice. The ionic state of Ni is found to be quite robust, and it is largely independent of the prepara…
Double perovskites of the form A_2BB'O_6 usually involve a transition metal ion, B, with a large magnetic moment, and a non magnetic ion B'. While many double perovskites are ferromagnetic, studies on the underlying model reveal the possibility of antiferromagnetic phases as well driven by electron delocalisation. In this paper we present a comprehensive study of the magnetic ground state and T_c scales of the minimal double perovskite model in three dimensions using a combination of spin-fermion Monte Carlo and variational calculations. In contrast to two dimensions, where the effective magne…
The ground state of the frustrated A-site magnetic spinel CoAl2O4 has been a controversial issue whether it is a collinear antiferromagnetic ordering or a spiral spin - liquid state, as the ratio of the two competing interactions, J2/J1 lies close to the boundary between these two ground states. Here, we address the magnetic ground state in CoAl2O4 with different amount of Co2+/Al3+ site disorder from the study of magnetoelectric effect and Monte Carlo simulations. CoAl2O4 with low site disorder exhibits linear magnetoelectric effect below the magnetic ordering temperature. With increasing dis…
We calculate the temperature dependence of the correlation length xi and the uniform susceptibility chi_0 of the frustrated J1-J2 square-lattice Heisenberg ferromagnet in the collinear stripe phase using Green-function technique. The height chi_{max} and the position T(chi_{max}) of the maximum in the chi_0(T) curve exhibit a characteristic dependence on the frustration parameter J2/|J1|, which is well described by power laws, chi_{max}=a(J2-J2^c)^{-nu} and T(chi_{max})=b(J_2-J_2^c), where J2^c = 0.4 and nu is of the order of unity.The correlation length diverges at low temperatures as xi \pro…
We study a square-lattice spin-half Heisenberg model where frustration is introduced by competing nearest-neighbor bonds of different signs. We discuss the influence of quantum fluctuations on the nature of the zero-temperature phase transitions from phases with collinear magnetic order at small frustration to phases with noncollinear spiral order at large frustration. We use the coupled cluster method (CCM) for high orders of approximation (up to LSUB6) and the exact diagonalization of finite systems (up to 32 sites) to calculate ground-state properties. The role of quantum fluctuations is ex…
The phase diagram of the quasi-one-dimensional magnet NaCuMoO$_4$(OH) is established through single-crystal NMR and heat-capacity measurements. The $^{23}$Na and $^1$H NMR experiments indicate a spiral and a collinear spin-density-wave (SDW) order below and above $B_c$ = 1.5-1.8 T, respectively. Moreover, in the paramagnetic state above the SDW transition temperature, the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate $1/T_1$ indicates anisotropic spin fluctuations that have gapped excitations in the transverse spectrum but gapless ones in the longitudinal spectrum. These static and dynamic properties a…
We have analyzed theoretically the photoemission spectra of the insulating compound Li2VOSiO4.Recently, this compound has been proposed as the first experimental realization of the frustrated J1-J2 Heisenberg model. Although it is well known that Li2VOSiO4 is magnetically ordered in a collinear arrangement below TN=2.8 K, there is some controversy about the coexistence of two collinear phases above TN. Using a generalized t-J model we have obtained a complex spectral structure that can be traced back to the underlying collinear magnetic structures. We discuss the possibility to use ARPES exper…
The correct stacking of hexagonal layers is used to obtain accurate estimates for the exchange and anisotropy parameters of the geometrically-frustrated antiferromagnet CuFeO$_2$. Those parameters are highly constrained by the stability of a collinear metamagnetic phase between fields of 13.5 and 20 T. Constrained fits of the spin-wave frequencies of the collinear $\uudd $ phase below 7 T are used to identify the magnetic unit cell of the metamagnetic $\uuudd $ phase, which contains two hexagonal layers and 10 Fe$^{3+}$ spins.
We used a local susceptibility approach in extensive polarized neutron diffraction studies of the spin liquid \tbti. For a magnetic field applied along the [110] and [111] directions, we found that, at high temperature, all Tb moments are collinear and parallel to the field. With decreasing temperature, the Tb moments reorient from the field direction to their local anisotropy axes. For the [110] field direction, the field induced magnetic structure at 10 K is spin ice-like, but with two types of Tb moments of very different magnitudes. For a field along [111], the magnetic structure resembles…
Frustrated magnets are one class of fascinating materials that host many intriguing phases such as spin ice, spin liquid and complex long-range magnetic orderings at low temperatures. In this work we use first-principles calculations to find that in a wide range of magnetically frustrated oxides, at zero temperature a number of non-collinear magnetic orderings are more stable than the type-I collinear ordering that is observed at finite temperatures. The emergence of non-collinear orderings in those complex oxides is due to higher-order exchange interactions that originate from second-row and …
We discuss ground state selection by quantum fluctuations in frustrated magnets in a strong magnetic field. We show that there exist dynamical symmetries -- one a generalisation of Henley's gauge-like symmetry for collinear spins, the other the quantum relict of non-collinear weathervane modes -- which ensure a partial survival of the classical degeneracies. We illustrate these for the case of the kagome magnet, where we find zero-point energy differences to be rather small everywhere except near the collinear `up-up-down` configurations, where there is rotational but not translational symmetr…
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), neutron diffaction (ND), x-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility and specific heat measurements on the frustrated A-site spinel CoAl2O4 compound reveal a collinear antiferromagnetic ordering below Tn = 9.8(2) K. A high quality powder sample characterized by x-ray diffraction that indicates a relatively low Co-Al inversion parameter x = 0.057(20) in (Co1-xAlx)[Al2-xCox]O4, shows a broad maximum around 15 K in magnetic susceptibility and a sharp peak at Tn in heat capacity. The average ordered magnetic moment of Co^2+ (S = 3/2) ions at the A-site is estimated…
Triple-${\bf Q}$ collinear state with compensated ferrimagnetic nature on frustrated kagome lattice
Department of Earth and Space Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Osaka(大阪大学理学研究科地球宇宙科学系);Molecular Photoscience Research Center, Kobe University(神户大学分子光科学研究中心)
Magnetic frustration in three dimensions (3D) manifests itself in the spin-$\frac12$ insulator Li$_2$CuW$_2$O$_8$. Density-functional band-structure calculations reveal a peculiar spin lattice built of triangular planes with frustrated interplane couplings. The saturation field of 29 T contrasts with the susceptibility maximum at 8.5 K and a relatively low Néel temperature $T_N\simeq 3.9$ K. Magnetic order below $T_N$ is collinear with the propagation vector $(0,\frac12,0)$ and an ordered moment of 0.65(4) $μ_B$ according to neutron diffraction data. This reduced ordered moment together with t…
We study a ferromagnetic Heisenberg spin system on the square lattice, with nearest neighbors interaction J_1 frustrated by second J_2 and third J_3 neighbors antiferromagnetic interactions, using a mean field theory for the Schwinger boson representation of spins. For J_3=0 we find that the boundary between the ferromagnetic and the collinear classical phases shifts to smaller values of J_2 when quantum fluctuations are included. Along the line J_2/|J_1|= 1 the boundaries between the collinear and incommensurate regions are strongly shifted to larger values with respect to the classical case.…
We study an isotropic Heisenberg spin-1/2 model on a trellis ladder which is composed of two $J_1-J_2$ zigzag ladders interacting through anti-ferromagnetic rung couplings $J_3$. The $J_1$ and $J_2$ are ferromagnetic zigzag spin interaction between two legs and anti-ferromagnetic interaction along each leg of a zigzag ladder. A quantum phase diagram of this model is constructed using the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method and linearized spin wave analysis. In small $J_2$ limit a short range stripe collinear phase is found in the presence of $J_3$, whereas, in the large $J_2/J_3…
We explore the effect of the third nearest-neighbors on the magnetic properties of the Heisenberg model on an anisotropic triangular lattice. We obtain the phase diagram of the model using Schwinger-boson mean-field theory. Competition between Néel, spiral and collinear magnetically ordered phases is found as we vary the on the ratios of the nearest, J1, next-nearest, J2, and third-nearest, J_3, neighbor exchange couplings. A spin liquid phase is stabilized between the spiral and collinear ordered states when J2/J1 < 1.8 for rather small J3/J1 < 0.1. The lowest energy two-spinon dispersions re…
Frustrated itinerant ferromagnets, with non-collinear static spin structures, are an exciting class of material as their spin chirality can introduce a Berry phase in the electronic scattering and lead to exotic electronic phenomena such as the anomalous Hall effect (AHE). This study presents a reexamination of the magnetic properties of Fe$_3$Sn$_2$, a metallic ferromagnet, based on the 2-dimensional kagome bilayer structure. Previously thought of as a conventional ferromagnet, we show using a combination of SQUID measurements, symmetry analysis and powder neutron diffraction, that Fe$_3$Sn$_…
Frustrated magnetic interactions in a quasi-two-dimensional [111] slab of pyrochlore lattice were studied. For uniform nearest neighbor (NN) interactions, we show that the complex magnetic problem can be mapped onto a model with two independent degrees of freedom, tri-color and binary sign. This provides a systematic way to construct the complex classical spin ground states with collinear and coplanar bi-pyramid spins. We also identify `partial but extended' zero-energy excitations amongst the ground states. For nonuniform NN interactions, the coplanar ground state can be obtained from the col…
NMR and magnetization measurements in Li$_2$VOSiO$_4$ and Li$_2$VOGeO$_4$ are reported. The analysis of the susceptibility shows that both compounds are two-dimensional $S=1/2$ Heisenberg antiferromagnets on a square lattice with a sizeable frustration induced by the competition between the superexchange couplings $J_1$ along the sides of the square and $J_2$ along the diagonal. Li$_2$VOSiO$_4$ undergoes a low-temperature phase transition to a collinear order, as theoretically predicted for $J_2/J_1 > 0.5$. Just above the magnetic transition the degeneracy between the two collinear ground stat…
muSR and 7Li NMR relaxation measurements in frustrated two-dimensional S=1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnets on a square lattice are presented. It is found that both in Li2VOSiO4 and Li2VOGeO4, spin dynamics at frequencies well below the Heisenberg exchange frequency are present. These dynamics are associated with the motions of walls separating coexisting collinear domains with a magnetic wave vector rotated by 90 degrees.
We argue that collinearly ordered states which exist in strongly frustrated spin systems for special rational values of the magnetization are stabilized by thermal as well as quantum fluctuations. These general predictions are tested by Monte Carlo simulations for the classical and Lanczos diagonalization for the S=1/2 frustrated square-lattice antiferromagnet.
The discovery that Nd$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$NiO$_2$, with the CaCuO$_2$ infinite-layer structure, superconducts up to 15 K around the hole-doping level $x$=0.2 raises the crucial question of its fundamental electronic and magnetic processes. The unexplained basic feature that we address is that, for $x$=0 and as opposed to strongly antiferromagnetic (AFM) CaCuO$_2$, NdNiO$_2$ with the same structure and formal $d^9$ configuration does not undergo AFM order. We study this issue not in the conventional manner, as energetically unfavored or as frustrated magnetic order, but as an instability of the AFM ph…
We predict that an external field can induce a spin order in highly frustrated classical Heisenberg magnets. We find analytically stabilization of collinear states by thermal fluctuations at a one-third of the saturation field for kagome and garnet lattices and at a half of the saturation field for pyrochlore and frustrated square lattices. This effect is studied numerically for the frustrated square-lattice antiferromagnet by Monte Carlo simulations for classical spins and by exact diagonalization for $S=1/2$. The field induced collinear states have a spin gap and produce magnetization platea…
We study static vacancies in the collinear magnetic phase of a frustrated Heisenberg $J_1$-$J_2$ model. It is found that vacancies can rapidly suppress the collinear antiferromagnetic state (CAFM)and generate a new magnetic phase, an anti-collinear magnetic phase (A-CAFM), due to magnetic frustration. We investigate the quantum phase transition between these two states by studying a variety of vacancy superlattices. We argue that the anti-collinear magnetic phase can exist in iron-based superconductors in the absence of any preceding structural transitions and an observation of this novel phas…
The zero-temperature quantum phase diagram of the spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ $J_{1}$--$J_{2}$--$J_{1}^{\perp}$ model on an $AA$-stacked bilayer honeycomb lattice is investigated using the coupled cluster method (CCM). The model comprises two monolayers in each of which the spins, residing on honeycomb-lattice sites, interact via both nearest-neighbor (NN) and frustrating next-nearest-neighbor isotropic antiferromagnetic (AFM) Heisenberg exchange iteractions, with respective strengths $J_{1} > 0$ and $J_{2} \equiv κJ_{1}>0$. The two layers are coupled via a comparable Heisenberg exchange interaction be…
Frustrated spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ Heisenberg magnet on an $AA$-stacked honeycomb bilayer: High-order study of the collinear magnetic phases of the $J_{1}$--$J_{2}$--$J_{1}^{\perp}$ model
$^7$Li and $^{29}$Si NMR, $μ$SR and magnetization measurements in Li$_2$V$_{1-x}$OTi$_x$SiO$_4$, for $0 \leq x \leq 0.2$, are presented. The $x=0$ compound is a prototype of frustrated two-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a square-lattice with competing nearest ($J_1$) and next-nearest ($J_2$) neighbour exchange interactions. Ti$^{4+}$ (S=0) for V$^{4+}$ (S=1/2) substitution yields the spin dilution of the antiferromagnetic layers. The analysis of the magnetization and of the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate shows that spin dilution not only reduces the spin-stiffness by a factor …
Non-local correlation effects in the half-filled Hubbard model on an isotropic triangular lattice are studied within a spin polarized extension of the dual fermion approach. A competition between the antiferromagnetic non-collinear and the spin liquid states is strongly enhanced by an incorporation of a k-dependent self-energy beyond the local dynamical mean-field theory. The dual fermion correc- tions drastically decrease the energy of a spin liquid state while leaving the non-collinear magnetic states almost non-affected. This makes the spin liquid to become a preferable state in a certain i…
The crystal and magnetic structures and underlying magnetic interactions of Bi4Fe5O13F, a model system for studying the physics of the Cairo pentagonal spin lattice, are investigated by transmission electron microscopy, low-temperature synchrotron x-ray and neutron powder diffraction, thermodynamic measurements, and density functional band-structure calculations. The crystal structure of Bi4Fe5O13F contains infinite rutile-like chains of edge-sharing FeO6 octahedra interconnected by the Fe2O7 groups of two corner-sharing FeO4 tetrahedra. The cavities between the chains are filled with the fluo…
Using neutron powder diffraction and Monte-Carlo simulations we show that a spin-liquid regime emerges at $all compositions in the diamond-lattice antiferromagnets Co(Al1-xCox)2O4. This spin-liquid regime induced by frustration due to the second-neighbour exchange coupling J2, is gradually superseded by antiferromagnetic collinear long-range order (k=0) at low temperatures. Upon substitution of Al3+ by Co3+ in the octahedral B-site the temperature range occupied by the spin-liquid regime narrows and TN increases. To explain the experimental observations we considered magnetic anisotropy D or t…
In a strongly frustrated square-lattice antiferromagnet with diagonal coupling J', for J/(2J') < 1, an incommensurate spiral state with propagation vector Q = (π+/- δ, π+/- δ) near (π,π) competes closely with the Neel collinear antiferromagnetic ground state. For classical Heisenberg spins the energy of the spiral state can be lowered as it adapts to the distortion of the crystal lattice. As a result, a weak superstructural modulation such as exist in doped cuprates might stabilize an incommensurate spiral phase for some range of the parameter J/(2J') close to 1.
We examine the stability of classical states with a generic incommensurate spiral order against quantum fluctuations. Specifically, we focus on the frustrated spin-1/2 $XY$ and Heisenberg models on the honeycomb lattice with nearest-neighbor $J_1$ and next-nearest-neighbor $J_2$ antiferromagnetic couplings. Our variational approach is based on the Jastrow wave functions, which include quantum correlations on top of classical spin waves. We perform a systematic optimization of wave vectors and Jastrow pseudo-potentials within this class of variational states and find that quantum fluctuations f…
A novel general method of describing the spin-lattice interactions in magnetic solids was proposed in terms of first principles calculations. The spin exchange and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions as well as their derivatives with respect to atomic displacements can be evaluated efficiently on the basis of density functional calculations for four ordered spin states. By taking into consideration the spin-spin interactions, the phonons, and the coupling between them, we show that the ground state structure of a representative spin-frustrated spinel, MgCr2 O4, is tetragonally distorted, in agr…
Collinear and noncollinear antiferromagnetic ordering in a highly frustrated decorated square kagomé lattice antiferromagnets of the nabokoite family
P.L. Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems, RAS(俄罗斯科学院P.L.卡皮察物理问题研究所);National Research University “HSE”(国立研究型大学高等经济大学);M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University(莫斯科罗蒙诺索夫国立大学);National University of Science and Technology “MISiS”(国立科技大学米西斯大学)
We discuss theoretically frustrated Heisenberg spiral magnets in magnetic field $\bf H$. We demonstrate that small anisotropic spin interactions (single-ion biaxial anisotropy or dipolar forces) select the plane in which spins rotate (spiral plane) and can lead to the spiral plane flop upon in-plane field increasing. Expressions for the critical fields $H_{flop}$ are derived. It is shown that measuring of $H_{flop}$ is an efficient and simple method of quantifying the anisotropy in the system (as the measurement of spin-flop fields in collinear magnets with axial anisotropy). Corresponding rec…
We investigate the magnetic properties of Ru$_{2}$Mn$Z$ ($Z$ = Sn, Sb, Ge, Si) chemically ordered full Heusler compounds for zero as well as finite temperatures. Based on first principles calculations we derive the interatomic isotropic bilinear and biquadratic couplings between Mn atoms from the paramagnetic state. We find frustrated isotropic couplings for all compounds and in case of $Z$ = Si and Sb a nearest-neighbor biquadratic coupling that favors perpendicular alignment between the Mn spins. By using an extended classical Heisenberg model in combination with spin dynamics simulations we…
We study the ground state properties of the two-dimensional spin-1/2 J_1-J_2-Heisenberg model on a square lattice, within diagrammatic approximations using an auxiliary fermion formulation with exact projection. In a first approximation we assume a phenomenological width of the pseudofermion spectral function to calculate the magnetization, susceptibilities and the spin correlation length within RPA, demonstrating the appearance of a paramagnetic phase between the Neel ordered and Collinear ordered phases, at sufficiently large pseudo fermion damping. Secondly we use a Functional Renormalizati…
Detailed neutron scattering measurements on the bond frustrated magnet ZnCr2S4 reveal a rich H-T phase diagram. The field dependence of the two subsequent antiferromagnetic transitions follows closely that of recently reported structural instabilities, providing further evidence for spin driven Jahn-Teller physics. The incommensurate helical ordered phase below TN1 = 15.5 K exhibits gapless spin wave excitations, whereas a spin wave gap (about 2 meV) opens below TN2 = 8 K as the system undergoes a first-order transition to a commensurate collinear ordered phase. The spin wave gap is closed by …
We present a model describing the lattice distortion and incommensurate magnetic order in the spinel CdCr2O4, a good realization of the Heisenberg "pyrochlore" antiferromagnet. The magnetic frustration is relieved through the spin-Peierls distortion of the lattice involving a phonon doublet with odd parity. The distortion stablizes a collinear magnetic order with the propagation wavevector q=2π(0,0,1). The lack of inversion symmetry makes the crystal structure chiral. The handedness is transferred to magnetic order by the relativistic spin-orbit coupling: the collinear state is twisted into a …
In the external field slightly inclined to the $x$- or y-axis of the frustrated tetragonal atiferromagnet Pr2CuO4, a transition is discovered from the phase with orthogonal antiferromagnetic spin subsystems along [1,0,0] and [0,1,0] to the phase with the collinear spins. This phase is shown to be due to the pseudodipolar interaction, and transforms into the spin-flop phase S perp H asymptotically at very high field. The discovered phase transition holds at T=0 and is a quantum one, with the transition field being the critical point and the angle between two subsystems being the order parameter…
We consider frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnets, whose clean-limit ground state is characterized by non-collinear long-range order with non-zero vector chirality, and study the effects of quenched bond disorder, i.e., random exchange couplings. A single bond defect is known to induce a dipolar texture in the spin background independent of microscopic details. Using general analytical arguments as well as large-scale simulations for the classical triangular-lattice Heisenberg model, we show that any finite concentration of such defects destroys long-range order for spatial dimension $d\leq 2…
By studying the dielectric properties of the geometrically frustrated spinel CdV2O4, we observe ferroelectricity developing at the transition into the collinear antiferromagnetic ground state. In this multiferroic spinel, ferroelectricity is driven by local magnetostriction and not by the more common scenario of spiral magnetism. The experimental findings are corroborated by ab-initio calculations of the electric polarization and the underlying spin and orbital order. The results point towards a charge rearrangement due to dimerization, where electronic correlations and the proximity to the in…
We present the results of the magnetization and dielectric constant measurements on untwinned single crystal samples of the frustrated S=1/2 chain cuprate LiCu_2O_2. Novel magnetic phase transitions were observed. A spin flop transition of the spiral spin plane was observed for the field orientations H||a,b. The second magnetic transition was observed at H~15 T for all three principal field directions. This high field magnetic phase is discussed as a collinear spin-modulated phase which is expected for an S=1/2 nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic and next-nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic chain sy…
We study dilute magnetic impurities and vacancies in two-dimensional frustrated magnets with non-collinear order. Taking the triangular-lattice Heisenberg model as an example, we use quasiclassical methods to determine the impurity contributions to the magnetization and susceptibility. Most importantly, each impurity moment is not quantized, but receives non-universal screening corrections due to local relief of frustration. At finite temperatures, where bulk long-range order is absent, this implies an impurity-induced magnetic response of Curie form, with a prefactor corresponding to a fracti…
We report the $\mathbf{H}-T$ phase diagram of $S=1/2$ strongly frustrated anisotropic spin chain material linarite PbCuSO$_4$(OH)$_2$ in tilted magnetic fields up to 10 T and temperatures down to 0.2 K. By means of torque magnetometry we investigate the phase diagram evolution as the magnetic field undergoes rotation in $\mathbf{ba}^{\ast}$ and $\mathbf{bc}$ planes. The key finding is the robustness of the high field spin density wave-like phase, which may persist even as the external field goes orthogonal to the chain direction $\mathbf{b}$. In contrast, the intermediate collinear antiferroma…
We present a new model compound with the S = 1/2 frustrated square lattice composed of the charge-transfer salt (o-MePy-V)PF6. Ab initio calculations indicate the formation of an S = 1/2 square lattice, in which six types of nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic- and antiferromagnetic interactions cause frustration. By applying a magnetic field, we observe an unusually gradual increase of magnetization and a subsequent 1/2-plateau-like behavior. A numerical analysis using the tensor network method qualitatively demonstrates such behaviors and suggests a collinear ordered state and a field-enhanced qu…
We present the specific heat, magnetization, optical spectroscopy measurements and the firstprinciple calculations on the Weberite structure Ca2Os2O7 single crystal/polycrystalline sample. The Ca2Os2O7 shows a Curie-Weiss nature at high temperature and goes into a ferrimagnetic insulating state at 327 K on cooling. A λ-like peak is observed at 327 K in the specific heat implying a second-order phase transition. The vanishing electronic specific heat at low temperature suggests a full energy gap. At high temperature above the transition, small amount of itinerant carriers with short life time τ…
Motivated by the intriguing report, in some frustrated quantum antiferromagnets, of magnetization plateaus whose simple collinear structure is {\it not} stabilized by an external magnetic field in the classical limit, we develop a semiclassical method to estimate the zero-point energy of collinear configurations even when they do not correspond to a local minimum of the classical energy. For the spin-1/2 frustrated square-lattice antiferromagnet, this approach leads to the stabilization of a large 1/2 plateau with "up-up-up-down" structure for J_2/J_1>1/2, in agreement with exact diagonalizati…
We investigate magnetic properties of a frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet with a face-centered cubic (FCC) lattice and exchange interactions between the nearest- and next-nearest neighbours, J1 and J2. In a collinear phase with the wave vector Q = (pi,pi,pi) the equations of the self-consistent spin-wave theory for the sublattice magnetization and the average short range order parameter are obtained and numerically solved. The dependence of the Neel temperature T_N on the ratio J2/J1 is obtained. It is shown, that at strong enough frustration there is a wide temperature region above T_N wi…
We study the spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a bilayer honeycomb lattice including interlayer frustration. Using a set of complementary approaches, namely Schwinger bosons, dimer series expansion, bond operators, and exact diagonalization, we map out the quantum phase diagram. Analyzing ground state energies and elementary excitation spectra, we find four distinct phases, corresponding to three collinear magnetic long range ordered states, and one quantum disordered interlayer dimer phase. We detail, that the latter phase is adiabatically connected to an "exact" singlet product ground s…
We perform a comprehensive analysis of the bimagnon resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) intensity spectra of the spatially frustrated Jx-Jy-J2 Heisenberg model on a square lattice in both the antiferromagnetic and the collinear antiferromagnetic phase. We study the model for strong frustration and significant spatial anisotropy to highlight the key signatures of RIXS spectrum splitting which may be experimentally discernible. Based on an interacting spin wave theory study within the ladder approximation Bethe-Salpeter scheme, we find the appearance of a robust two-peak structure over a …
We formulate and study a spin-orbital model for a family of cubic double perovskites with $d^1$ ions occupying a frustrated fcc sublattice. A variational approach and a complimentary analytical analysis reveal a rich variety of phases emerging from the interplay of Hund's and spin-orbit couplings (SOC). The phase digram includes non-collinear ordered states, with or without net moment, and, remarkably, a large window of a non-magnetic disordered spin-orbit dimer phase. The present theory uncovers the physical origin of the unusual amorphous valence bond state experimentally suggested for Ba$_2…