We present a detailed investigation of the magnetic properties of complex vanadium phosphates M(VO)2(PO4)2 (M = Ca, Sr) by means of magnetization, specific heat, 31P NMR measurements, and band structure calculations. Experimental data evidence the presence of ferro- and antiferromagnetic interactions in M(VO)2(PO4)2 resulting in a nearly vanishing Curie-Weiss temperature θ_{CW} < 1 K that contrasts with the maximum of magnetic susceptibility at 3 K. Specific heat and NMR measurements also reveal weak exchange couplings with the thermodynamic energy scale J_c = 10-15 K. Additionally, the reduced maximum of the magnetic specific heat indicates strong frustration of the spin system. Band structure calculations show that the spin systems of the M(VO)2(PO4)2 compounds are essentially three-dimensional with the frustration caused by competing ferro- and antiferromagnetic interactions. Both calcium and strontium compounds undergo antiferromagnetic long-range ordering at T_N = 1.5 K and 1.9 K, respectively. The spin model reveals an unusual example of controllable frustration in three-dimensional magnetic systems.
Frustration of magnetic systems which is caused by competing interactions is the driving force of several unusual phenomena such as plateaus and jumps of the magnetization curve as well as of unusual energy spectra with for instance many singlet levels below the first triplet state. The antiferromagnetic cuboctahedron can serve as a paradigmatic example of certain frustrated antiferromagnets. In addition it has the advantage that its complete energy spectrum can be obtained up to individual spin quantum numbers of s=3/2 (16,777,216 states).
The $120^0$ ordered antiferromagnetic state of the Hubbard model on a triangular lattice presents an interesting case of $U$-controlled competing interactions and frustration. The spin stiffness is found to vanish at $U^* _{\rm stiff} \approx 6$ and the spin-wave energy $ω_M$ at ${\bf q}_M=(2π/3,0)$ etc. is found to vanish at $U_M ^* \approx 6.8$ due to competing spin couplings generated at finite $U$. The loss of magnetic order due to the magnetic instability at ${\bf q}_M$ yields a first-order quantum phase transition in the insulating state at $U=U_{\rm M}^*$. Implications of the quantum sp…
The magnon propagator is evaluated in the AF (π,π,π) and the F-AF (0,π,π) states at the RPA level, and the spin-fluctuation corrections are compared. Transverse spin fluctuations are sharply enhanced by the frustration- inducing NNN hopping t', reducing the zero-temperature AF order in two dimensions, and the Neel temperature in three dimensions. The phase boundary between the insulating AF and F-AF states is obtained in the full range of interaction strength, indicating that the AF state is interestingly stabilized with decreasing U.
Spin waves in the type-III ordered antiferromagnetic state of the frustrated $t$-$t'$ Hubbard model on the fcc lattice are calculated to investigate finite-$U$-induced competing interaction and frustration effects on magnetic excitations and instabilities. Particularly strong competing interactions generated due to interplay of fcc lattice geometry and magnetic order result in significant spin wave softening. The calculated spin wave dispersion is found to be in qualitative agreement with the measured spin wave dispersion in the pyrite mineral $\rm Mn S_2$ obtained from inelastic neutron scatt…
The $1/4$-filled organic compound, $δ$-(EDT-TTF-CONMe$_{2}$)$_{2}$AsF$_6$ is a frustrated two-dimensional triangular magnetic system as shown by high-frequency (111.2 and 222.4 GHz) electron spin resonance (ESR) and structural data in the literature. The material gradually orders antiferromagnetically below 40~K but some magnetically disordered domains persist down to 4 K. We propose that in defect free regions frustration prevents true magnetic order down to at least 4 K in spite of the large first- and second-neighbor exchange interactions along chains and between chains, respectively. The a…
We describe the Paired Electron Crystal (PEC) which occurs in the interacting frustrated two-dimensional 1/4-filled band. The PEC is a charge-ordered state with nearest-neighbor spin singlets separated by pairs of vacant sites, and can be thought of as a bipolaron density wave. The PEC has been experimentally observed in the insulating state proximate to superconductivity in the organic charge-transfer solids. Increased frustration drives a PEC-to-superconductor transition in these systems.
Recently, it has become possible to tune optical lattices continuously between square and triangular geometries. We compute thermodynamics and spin correlations in the corresponding Hubbard model using determinant quantum Monte Carlo and show that the frustration effects induced by the variable hopping terms can be clearly separated from concomitant bandwidth changes by a proper rescaling of the interaction. An enhancement of the double occupancy by geometric frustration signals the destruction of nontrivial antiferromagnetic correlations at weak coupling and entropy $s\lesssim \ln(2)$ (and re…
Ultrasound velocity measurements of cubic spinel GeCo$_2$O$_4$ in single crystal were performed for the investigation of shear and compression moduli. The shear moduli in the paramagnetic state reveal an absence of Jahn-Teller activity despite the presence of orbital degeneracy in the Co$^{2+}$ ions. Such a Jahn-Teller inactivity indicates that the intersite orbital-orbital interaction is much stronger than the Jahn-Teller coupling. The compression moduli in the paramagnetic state near the N$\acute{e}$el temperature $T_N$ reveal that the most relevant exchange path for the antiferromagnetic tr…
The ground state properties of spin-1/2 ladders are studied, emphasizing the role of frustration and ring exchange coupling. We present a unified field theory for ladders with general coupling constants and geometry. Rich phase diagrams can be deduced by using a renormalization group calculation for ladders with in--chain next nearest neighbor interactions and plaquette ring exchange coupling. In addition to established phases such as Haldane, rung singlet, and dimerized phases, we also observe a surprising instability towards an incommensurate phase for weak interchain couplings, which is cha…
In the triangular layered magnet PdCrO2 the intralayer magnetic interactions are strong, however the lattice structure frustrates interlayer interactions. In spite of this, long-range, 120$^\circ$ antiferromagnetic order condenses at $T_N = 38$~K. We show here through neutron scattering measurements under in-plane uniaxial stress and in-plane magnetic field that this occurs through a spontaneous lifting of the three-fold rotational symmetry of the nonmagnetic lattice, which relieves the interlayer frustration. We also show through resistivity measurements that uniaxial stress can suppress ther…
We theoretically propose a new stabilization mechanism of a skyrmion crystal (SkX) in a bilayer triangular lattice system consisting of the ferromagnetic and the antiferromagnetic layers. By performing variational calculations and Monte Carlo simulations in a complementary way, we find that a magnetic frustration between the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic layers is a source of a finite-Q spiral state and the SkX in the strong interlayer coupling regime. We also show that the degree of frustration is related to the interlayer exchange interaction. The stronger interlayer coupling tends to …
The Cairo pentagonal lattice, consisting of an irregular pentagonal tiling of magnetic ions on two inequivalent sites (3- and 4-co-ordinated ones), represents a fascinating example for studying geometric frustration effects in two-dimensions. In this work, we investigate the spin $S$ = $1/2$ Cairo pentagonal lattice with respect to selective exchange coupling (which effectively corresponds to a virtual doping of $x$ = $0, 1/6, 1/3$), in a nearest-neighbour antiferromagnetic Ising model. We also develop a simple method to quantify geometric frustration in terms of a frustration index $ϕ(β,T)$, …
Recent developments of theoretical studies on spin nanotubes are reviewed, especially focusing on the $S=1/2$ three-leg spin tube. In contrast to the three-leg spin ladder, the tube has a spin gap in case of the regular-triangle unit cellwhen the rung interaction is sufficiently large. The effective theory based on the Hubbard Hamiltonian indicates a quantum phase transition to the gapless spin liquid due to the lattice distortion to an isosceles triangle. This is also supported by the numerical diagonalization and the density matrix renormalization group analyses. Furthermore, combining analy…
We have studied polycrystalline Yb4LiGe4, a ternary variant of the R5T4 family of layered compounds characterized by a very strong coupling between the magnetic and crystallographic degrees of freedom. The system is mixed valent, with non-magnetic Yb2+ and magnetic Yb3+ present, and is characterized by coexisting ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic correlations. We present measurements of resistivity, AC-susceptibility, specific heat, and muon spin relaxation (muSR), below 1 K. The low temperature measurements suggest a transition to a mesoscopically inhomogeneous magnetically ordered state be…
We investigate the paramagnetic-metal-to-antiferromagnetic-metal and antiferromagnetic-metal-to- antiferromagnetic-insulator transitions using a slave-boson mean-field theory. To this effect, we discuss the ground state of the half-filled Hubbard model as a function of t'/t and correlation strength U, where t and t' are the hopping amplitudes between nearest and next-nearest neighbors, respectively. The metal-insulator transition at a critical U_{MIT} is of second order for small levels of magnetic frustration, t'/t<0.06, and of first order for large ones, t'/t>0.06. The insulator is always an…
The usual classical behaviour of S = 3/2, B-site ordered double perovskites generally results in simple, commensurate magnetic ground states. In contrast, heat capacity and neutron powder diffraction measurements for the S = 3/2 systems La2NaB'O6 (B' = Ru, Os) reveal an incommensurate magnetic ground state for La2NaRuO6 and a drastically suppressed ordered moment for La2NaOsO6. This behaviour is attributed to the large monoclinic structural distortions of these double perovskites. The distortions have the effect of weakening the nearest neighbour superexchange interactions, presumably to an en…
The Shastry-Sutherland lattice, one of the simplest systems with geometric frustration, which has an exact eigenstate by putting singlets on diagonal bonds, can be realized in a group of layered compounds and rises both theoretical and experimental interest. Most of the previous studies on the Shastry-Sutherland lattice are focusing on the Heisenberg model. Here we opt for the Hubbard model to calculate phase diagrams over a wide range of interaction parameters, and show the competing effects of interaction, frustration and temperature. At low temperature, frustration is shown to favor a param…
We systematically derive low-energy effective Hamiltonians for molecular solids $β^\prime$-$X$[Pd(dmit)$_{2}$]$_{2}$ ($X$ represents a cation) using ab initio density functional theory calculations and clarify how the cation controls the inter-dimer transfer integrals and the interaction parameters. The effective models are solved using the exact diagonalization method and the antiferromagnetic ordered moment is shown to be significantly suppressed around the spin-liquid candidate of $X$=EtMe$_{3}$Sb, which is reported in experiments. We also show that both the geometrical frustration and the …
We present an exact diagonalization study on layered $J_{1}-J_{2}$ antiferromagnetic Heisenberg spin model to examine the role of frustration induced by inplane next-nearest neighbor coupling $J_{2}$, in presence of interlayer antiferromagnetic coupling $J_{\perp}$. A finite lattice of 24 spins in layered geometry of $(4\times 3)\oplus (4\times 3)$ is considered and the resulting Hamiltonian matrix diagonalized using Davidson iterative algorithm to obtain the ground and a few low-lying excited states. The lattice size ($24$ spins with Hilbert space dimensionality of $2704156$ in $S_{z}^{tot}=0…
We present neutron diffraction, magnetic susceptibility and specific heat data for a single-crystal sample of the cubic (Cu3Au structure) compound Pr3In. This compound is believed to have a singlet (Gamma1) groundstate and a low-lying triplet (Gamma4) excited state. In addition, nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic interactions are frustrated in this structure. Antiferromagnetic order occurs below T_N = 12K with propagation vector (0, 0, 0.5 +/-δ) where δ\approx 1/12. The neutron diffraction results can be approximated with the following model: ferromagnetic sheets from each of the three Pr site…
We report on the emergence of antiferromagnetic spin chains from two-dimensionally aligned spins on the anisotropic triangular lattice (ATL) in the insulating calcium rhenium oxychloride Ca3ReO5Cl2. The compound contains Re6+ ions each with one unpaired electron in the dxy orbital, which are arranged to form a spin-1/2 ATL with J'/J ~ 0.32 and J = 41 K, where J and J' are magnetic interactions in and between the chains, respectively. In spite of the apparent two dimensionality, we observe clear evidence of a gapless spin liquid that is characteristic of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain. This one-…
In RBaCo_{2}O_{5+x} compounds (R is rare earth), a ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic competition is accompanied by a giant magnetoresistance. We study the magnetization of detwinned GdBaCo_{2}O_{5.5} single crystals, and find a remarkable uniaxial anisotropy of Co^{3+} spins which is tightly linked with the chain oxygen ordering in GdO_{0.5} planes. Reflecting the underlying oxygen order, CoO_2 planes also develop a spin-state order consisting of Co^{3+} ions in alternating rows of S=1 and S=0 states. The magnetic structure appears to be composed of weakly coupled ferromagnetic ladders with Isin…
By using the coupled cluster method, the numerical exact diagonalization method, and the numerical density matrix renormalization group method, we investigated the properties of the one-dimensional Heisenberg chain with alternating antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic next nearest neighbor interactions. In the classical limit, the ground state is in the collinear Neel state if a<1/2, while for a>1/2, there is an noncollinear canted state. For the quantum case, we found that, although the classical Neel state is absent, the canted state exists if the frustration parameter a exceeds a critical po…
We present a detailed investigation of the magnetic properties of the spin-$\frac{3}{2}$ system Li$_2$Co(WO$_4$)$_2$ by means of magnetic susceptibility and specific heat. Our experimental results show that in Li$_2$Co(WO$_4$)$_2$ a short-range antiferromagnetic (AFM) correlations appear near $χ$$_{max}$ $\sim$ 11 K and two successive long-range AFM phase transitions are observed at T$_{N1}$$\sim$ 9 K and T$_{N2}$$\sim$ 7 K. The frustration factor, $\mid$$Θ$$\mid$/T$_{N1}$$\sim$3, indicates that the system is moderately frustrated, which is identifiable by the broken triangular symmetry within…
Frustration-driven topological textures on the honeycomb lattice: antiferromagnetic meron-antimeron and skyrmion crystals emerging from spiral spin liquids
Recent quantum-gas microscopy of ultracold atoms and scanning tunneling microscopy of the cuprates reveal new detailed information about doped Mott antiferromagnets, which can be compared with calculations. Using cellular dynamical mean-field theory, we map out the antiferromagnetic (AF) phase of the two-dimensional Hubbard model as a function of interaction strength $U$, hole doping $δ$ and temperature $T$. The Néel phase boundary is non-monotonic as a function of $U$ and $δ$. Frustration induced by second-neighbor hopping reduces Néel order more effectively at small $U$. The doped AF is stab…
This paper discusses the ground state of quantum spins interacting via Heisenberg antiferromagnetic exchange, in two dimensional lattices having several different local environments. In unfrustrated lattices, when a Néel type order exists, quantum fluctuations lead to an inhomogeneous order parameter. I consider the effects of adding frustration to such a system by including next nearest neighbor antiferromagnetic interactions. Within linear spin wave theory, it is found that as the frustration parameter increases, the local order parameters decrease at a rate that depends on the type of sites…
Electronic and magnetic properties of molybdenum pyrochlores A2Mo2O7 are studied by the fully relativistic density-functional theory plus on-site repulsion (U) method, with focusing on the spin-glass insulating material Y2Mo2O7. We find that the system exhibits peculiar competition in energy between different magnetic states in the large-U insulating region. The magnetic competition cannot be explained by the conventional picture based on the geometrical frustration of isotropic Heisenberg antiferromagnetic exchange interactions. Through an analysis by using a generalized spin model, we find t…
Whereas magnetic frustration is typically associated with local-moment magnets in special geometric arrangements, here we show that SrCo$_{2}$As$_{2}$ is a candidate for frustrated itinerant magnetism. Using inelastic neutron scattering (INS), we find that antiferromagnetic (AF) spin fluctuations develop in the square Co layers of SrCo$_{2}$As$_{2}$ below $T\approx100$ K centered at the stripe-type AF propagation vector of $(\frac{1}{2},~\frac{1}{2})$, and that their development is concomitant with a suppression of the uniform magnetic susceptibility determined via magnetization measurements. …
Heat-capacity (C) and ac susceptibility measurements have been performed on the spin-chain compounds, Sr3ZnRhO6 and Ca3NiMnO6, to establish their magnetic behavior and to explore whether there are magnetic frustration effects due to antiferromagnetic coupling of the chains arranged in a triangular fashion. While the paramagnetic Curie temperatures have been known to be large with a negative sign, as though antiferromagnetic interaction is very strong, the results establish that (i) the former apparently undergoes inhomogeneous magnetic ordering only around 15 K, however without spin-glass anom…
Antiferromagnetic Order and Magnetic Frustration in the Honeycomb Heavy-Fermion System Ce(Pt$_{1-x}$Pd$_{x}$)$_6$Al$_3$: $^{27}$Al and $^{195}$Pt NMR Studies
Paramagnetic half-moon shaped diffuse scattering arising from 3D magnetic frustration
ETH Zürich（苏黎世联邦理工学院）；A*STAR Quantum Innovation Centre (Q.InC), Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR)（新加坡科技研究局材料研究与工程研究所量子创新中心）
Chiral magnetic phases with an unconventional topological twist in the magnetization are of huge interest due to their potential in spintronics applications. Here, we present a general method to induce such exotic magnetic phases using interfacial phase frustration within artificially grown superlattices. To demonstrate our method, we consider a multilayer with two different chiral magnetic phases as the competing orders at the top and bottom and show, using Monte Carlo calculations, that the interfacial phase frustration is realized at the central layer. In particular, we obtain three unconve…
We present a comprehensive theory of the magnetic phases in monolayer nickel-based Janus dihalides (NiIBr, NiICl, NiBrCl) through a combination of first-principles calculations and atomistic simulations. Phonon band structure calculations and finite temperature molecular dynamics simulations show that Ni-dihalide Janus monolayers are stable. The parameters of the interacting spin Hamiltonian extracted from ab initio calculations show that nickel-dihalide Janus monolayers exhibit varying degrees of magnetic frustration together with a large Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction due to their inheren…
The intermetallic compound Nd$_2$Co$_{0.85}$Si$_{2.88}$ having a triangular lattice could be synthesized in single-phase only with defect crystal structure. Investigation through different experimental techniques indicate the presence of two magnetic transitions in the system. As verified experimentally and theoretically, the high-temperature transition T$_H$ ~ 140 K is associated with the development of ferromagnetic interaction between itinerant Co moments, whereas the low-temperature transition at T$_L$ ~ 6.5 K is due to the coupling among Nd-4f and Co-3d moments, which is antiferromagnetic…
Beyond a conventional classification of ferroelectricity, there is a class of materials where electronic degrees of freedom and electronic interactions are directly responsible for electric polarization and ferroelectric transition. This is termed electronic ferroelectricity. In this article, we review electronic ferroelectricity from a view point of frustration. Experimental and theoretical examinations in spin driven ferroelectric materials, recently termed multiferroics, are introduced. Spin frustration caused by competing magnetic interactions is of prime importance for this type of ferroe…
We present the crystal structure and magnetic properties of Y$_{3}$Cu$_{9}$(OH)$_{19}$Cl$_{8}$, a stoichiometric frustrated quantum spin system with slightly distorted kagome layers. Single crystals of Y$_{3}$Cu$_{9}$(OH)$_{19}$Cl$_{8}$ were grown under hydrothermal conditions. The structure was determined from single crystal X-ray diffraction and confirmed by neutron powder diffraction. The observed structure reveals two different Cu-positions leading to a slightly distored kagome layer in contrast to the closely related YCu$_{3}$(OH)$_{6}$Cl$_{3}$. Curie-Weiss behavior at high-temperatures w…
A structural and thermodynamic study of the newly synthesized single crystal Sr5Rh4O12 is reported. Sr5Rh4O12 consists of a triangular lattice of spin chains running along the c-axis. It is antiferromagnetically ordered below 23 K with the intrachain and interchain coupling being ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM), respectively. There is strong evidence for an Ising character in the interaction and geometrical frustration that causes incomplete long-range AFM order. The isothermal magnetization exhibits two step-like transitions leading to a ferrimagnetic state at 2.4 T and a FM st…
Using the Density Matrix Renormalization Group method, we determined the phase diagram of a frustrated antiferromagnetic spin-$\frac 1 2$ ladder at zero temperature. Two spin-gapped phases, the Haldane phase and the singlet phase, are identified. A phase transition between the two phases occurs at any non-zero value of frustration coupling $J_{\times}$. On the phase boundary, the spin gap vanishes for sufficiently small $J_{\times}$. Crossing this non-gapped line, the transition is of second order, while of first order for larger $J_{\times}$. Striking frustration effects are predicted for lad…
Defects in frustrated antiferromagnetic spin chains are universally present in geometrically frustrated systems. We consider the defects of the one-dimensional, spin-$s$ XXZ chain with single-ion anisotropy on a periodic chain with $N$ sites that was famously studied by Haldane. For $N$ odd the antiferromagnetic model is frustrated, and the ground state must include a soliton defect. We consider the Heisenberg interaction perturbatively and determine the corresponding perturbative solitonic ground state. Then we compute the entanglement spectrum, entanglement entropy (EE), capacity of entangle…
We present the results of our theoretical study on the effects of geometrical frustration and the interplay between spin and orbital degrees of freedom in vanadium spinel oxides $A$V$_2$O$_4$ ($A$ = Zn, Mg or Cd). Introducing an effective spin-orbital-lattice coupled model in the strong correlation limit and performing Monte Carlo simulation for the model, we propose a reduced spin Hamiltonian in the orbital ordered phase to capture the stabilization mechanism of the antiferromagnetic order. Orbital order drastically reduces spin frustration by introducing spatial anisotropy in the spin exchan…
We calculated the phase diagram of the Kondo-Heisenberg model on two-dimensional honeycomb lattice with both nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic spin exchanges, to investigate the interplay between RKKY and Kondo interactions at presence of magnetic frustration. Within a mean-field decoupling technology in slave-fermion representation, we derived the zero-temperature phase diagram as a function of Kondo coupling $J_k$ and frustration strength $Q$. The geometrical frustration can destroy the magnetic order, driving the original antiferromagnetic (AF) phase to non-magnet…
Using variational cluster approach, we study influence of frustration and dimensionality on magnetic properties in the ground state of Hubbard model on a stacked square lattice in the large $U$ region (U/t=10), by changing the next-nearest-neighbor hopping, $t^{\prime}$, and the interlayer hopping, $t_{\perp}$. For small $t_{\perp}<t^{\ast}_{\perp}$ with $t^{\ast}_{\perp}/t{\approx}0.44$, antiferromagnetic long-range order appears at small $t^{\prime}<t^{\prime}_{c_{1}}$, and collinear magnetic long-range order at large $t^{\prime}>t^{\prime}_{c_{2}}$. They are separated by a paramagnetic Mott…
The phase diagram of the spin-1 chain with bilinear-biquadratic and next-nearest neighbor inter- actions, recently investigated by Pixley, Shashi and Nevidomskyy [Phys. Rev. B 90, 214426 (2014)], has been revisited in the light of results we have recently obtained on a similar model. Combining extensive Density Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG) simulations with conformal-field theory arguments, we confirm the presence of the three phases identified by Pixley et al, a Haldane phase, a next-nearest neighbor (NNN) Haldane phase, and a dimerized phase, but we come to significantly different conc…
Although the magnetic order is suppressed by a strong magnetic frustration, it is maintained but appears in complex order forms such as a cycloid or spin density wave in weakly frustrated systems. Herein, we report a weakly magnetic-frustrated two-dimensional van der Waals material CrPSe$_3$. Polycrystalline CrPSe$_3$ was synthesized at an optimized temperature of 700$^\circ$C to avoid the formation of any secondary phases (e.g., Cr$_2$Se$_3$). The antiferromagnetic transition appeared at $T_N\sim 126$ K with a large Curie-Weiss temperature $T_{\rm CW} \sim -371$ via magnetic susceptibility me…
We have engineered an antiferromagnetic domain wall by utilizing a magnetic frustration effect of a thin iron cap layer deposited on a chromium film. Through lithography and wet etching we selectively remove areas of the Fe cap layer to form a patterned ferromagnetic mask over the Cr film. Removing the Fe locally removes magnetic frustration in user-defined regions of the Cr film. We present x-ray microdiffraction microscopy results confirming the formation of a 90° spin-density wave propagation domain wall in Cr. This domain wall nucleates at the boundary defined by our Fe mask.
The antiferromagnetic (AF) compound MnBi$_{2}$Te$_{4}$ is suggested to be the first realization of an antiferromagnetic (AF) topological insulator. Here we report on inelastic neutron scattering studies of the magnetic interactions in MnBi$_{2}$Te$_{4}$ that possess ferromagnetic (FM) triangular layers with AF interlayer coupling. The spin waves display a large spin gap and pairwise exchange interactions within the triangular layer are frustrated due to large next-nearest neighbor AF exchange. The degree of frustration suggests proximity to a variety of magnetic phases, potentially including s…
In quantum many-body systems with local interactions, the effects of boundary conditions are considered to be negligible, at least for sufficiently large systems. Here we show an example of the opposite. We consider a spin chain with two competing interactions, set on a ring with an odd number of sites. When only the dominant interaction is antiferromagnetic, and thus induces topological frustration, the standard antiferromagnetic order (expressed by the magnetization) is destroyed. When also the second interaction turns from ferro to antiferro, an antiferromagnetic order characterized by a si…
We investigate quantum phase transitions in the frustrated orthogonal-dimer chain with an arbitrary spin $S \geq 1/2$. When the ratio of the competing exchange couplings is varied, first-order phase transitions occur 2S times among distinct spin-gap phases. The introduction of single-ion anisotropy further enriches the phase diagram. The phase transitions described by the present model possess most of the essential properties inherent in frustrated quantum spin systems.
Magnetization processes of Ising models with frustration on diamond hierarchical lattices, which contain vertices with high coordination numbers, are exactly obtained at zero temperature. In antiferromagnetic systems, the magnetization cannot saturate under finite magnetic fields owing to the competition between the antiferromagnetic and Zeeman interactions and the intrinsic long-range nature of hierarchical lattices. For the zero-field classical spin-liquid phase found in [Kobayashi et al., J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 78, 074004 (2009)], an infinitely small applied magnetic field can induce an infinit…
We measured the magnetic susceptibilities of Cu$_6$Ge$_6$O$_{18}$-xH$_2$O ($x = 0 \sim 6$). Susceptibility above the antiferromagnetic (AF) transition temperature ($T_{\rm N}$) agrees with susceptibility of the one-dimensional Heisenberg $S = 1/2$ model with competing AF interactions. From the estimated ratio between nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor AF exchange interactions, the spin system is probably located near a boundary between spin systems with gapless and gapped magnetic excitation. The value of $T_{\rm N}/T_{\rm max}$, where $T_{\rm max}$ is temperature at which the suscepti…
We theoretically study a spin-spin correlation enhanced by non-magnetic impurities in a frustrated two-leg spin ladder. The frustration is introduced by the next-nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic interaction in the leg direction in the antiferromagnetic two-leg spin ladder. The spin-spin correlation function around impurity site is calculated by the density-matrix renormalization-group method. We find that the spin-spin correlation is enhanced around impurity site with the wavenumber reflecting the frustration. As increasing the frustration, the wavenumber is shifted from commensurate to inco…
We present a comprehensive neutron scattering study of the breathing pyrochlore magnet LiGaCr4S8. We observe an unconventional magnetic excitation spectrum with a separation of high and low-energy spin dynamics in the correlated paramagnetic regime above a spin-freezing transition at 12(2) K. By fitting to magnetic diffuse-scattering data, we parameterize the spin Hamiltonian. We find that interactions are ferromagnetic within the large and small tetrahedra of the breathing pyrochlore lattice, but antiferromagnetic further-neighbor interactions are also essential to explain our data, in qualit…
We present the ground state phase diagram of $q = 1/2$ quantum-rotor chains with competing interactions (frustration) calculated through cluster variational mean field approaches. We consider two interaction patterns, named F$_1$ and F$_2$ models, between the quantum-rotor momentum and position operators, which follow exchange patterns of known one-dimensional spin-1/2 systems with a ferrimagnetic state in their phase diagrams. The spin-1/2 F$_1$ model is known as the diamond chain and is related to the azurite compound, while the spin-1/2 F$_2$ model was recently shown to present a frustratio…
