Neutron scattering measurements have been performed on deuterated powder samples of claringbullite and Zn-doped claringbullite (Zn$_x$Cu$_{4-x}$(OD)$_{6}$FCl). At low temperatures, claringbullite Cu$_4$(OD)$_{6}$FCl forms a distorted pyrochlore lattice with long-range magnetic order and spin-wave-like magnetic excitations. Partial Zn doping leads to the nominal ZnCu$_3$(OD)$_{6}$FCl compound, a geometrically frustrated spin-1/2 kagome antiferromagnet that shows no transition to magnetic order down to 1.5 K. The magnetic excitations form a gapless continuum, a signature of fractional excitations in a quantum spin liquid.
The search for quantum spin liquid (QSL) materials has attracted significant attention in the field of condensed matter physics in recent years, but until now only a handful of them are considered as candidates hosting QSL ground state. Owning to their geometrically frustrated structure, Kagome materials are ideal system to realize QSL. In this study, we synthesized the kagome structured material Claringbullite (Cu$_4$(OH)$_6$FCl) and then performed Zn doping to form Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$FCl. Comprehensive measurements reveal that doping Zn$^{2+}$ ions transforms magnetically ordered Cu$_4$(OH)$_6$…
We study the ground state of a spin-half Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the stacked kagome lattice by using a spin-rotation-invariant Green's-function method. Since the pure two-dimensional kagome antiferromagnet is most likely a magnetically disordered quantum spin liquid, we investigate the question whether the coupling of kagome layers in a stacked three-dimensional system may lead to a magnetically ordered ground state. We present spin-spin correlation functions and correlation lengths. For comparison we apply also linear spin wave theory. Our results provide strong evidence that the system…
We present numerical evidence for the emergence of an extended valence bond solid (VBS) phase at $T=0$ in the kagome $S=1/2$ Heisenberg antiferromagnet with ferromagnetic further-neighbor interactions. The VBS is located at the boundary between two magnetically ordered regions and extends close to the nearest-neighbor Heisenberg point. It exhibits a diamond-like singlet covering pattern with a $12$-site unit-cell. Our results suggest the possibility of a direct, possibly continuous, quantum phase transition from the neighboring $\mathbf{q}=0$ coplanar magnetically ordered phase into the VBS ph…
We investigate the stability and the nature of the chiral spin liquids which were recently uncovered in extended Heisenberg models on the kagome lattice. Using a Gutzwiller projected wave function approach -- i.e. a parton construction -- we obtain large overlaps with ground states of these extended Heisenberg models. We further suggest that the appearance of the chiral spin liquid in the time-reversal invariant case is linked to a classical transition line between two magnetically ordered phases.
We report variational Monte Carlo calculations for the spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice in the presence of both nearest-neighbor $J_1$ and next-nearest-neighbor $J_2$ antiferromagnetic superexchange couplings. Our approach is based upon Gutzwiller projected fermionic states that represent a flexible tool to describe quantum spin liquids with different properties (e.g., gapless and gapped). We show that, on finite clusters, a gapped $\mathbb{Z}_{2}$ spin liquid can be stabilized in the presence of a finite $J_2$ superexchange, with a substantial energy gain with respect…
The Kagome-lattice-based material, Volborthite, $\mathrm{Cu_3 V_2 O_7 (OH)_2 \cdot 2 H_2 O}$, has been considered as a promising platform for discovery of unusual quantum ground states due to the frustrated nature of spin interactions. Here we explore possible quantum spin liquid and magnetically ordered phases in a two-dimensional non-symmorphic lattice described by $p2gg$ layer space group, which is consistent with the spatial anisotropy of the spin model derived from density functional theory (DFT) for Volborthite. Using the projective symmetry group (PSG) analysis and Schwinger boson mean …
We numerically study the spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the kagomé lattice using the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method. We find that the ground state is a magnetically disordered spin liquid, characterized by an exponential decay of spin-spin correlation function in real space and a magnetic structure factor showing system-size independent peaks at commersurate antiferromangetic wavevectors. We obtain a spin triplet excitation gap $ΔE(S=1)=0.055\pm 0.005$ by extrapolation based on the large size results, and confirm the presence of gapless singlet excitations. …
Motivated by the unabating interest in the spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic model on the Kagome lattice, we investigate the energetics of projected Schwinger boson (SB) wave functions in the $J_1$--$J_2$ model with antiferromagnetic $J_2$ coupling. Our variational Monte Carlo results show that Sachdev's $Q_1=Q_2$ SB ansatz has a lower energy than the Dirac spin liquid for $J_2\gtrsim 0.08 J_1$ and the ${\bf q=0}$ Jastrow type magnetically ordered state. This work demonstrates that the projected SB wave functions can be tested on the same footing as their fermionic counterparts.
We investigated the crystal structure of Rb$_2$Cu$_3$SnF$_{12}$ and its magnetic properties using single crystals. This compound is composed of Kagome layers of corner-sharing CuF$_{6}$ octahedra with a 2a x 2a enlarged cell as compared with the proper Kagome layer. Rb$_2$Cu$_3$SnF$_{12}$ is magnetically described as an $S$=1/2 modified Kagome antiferromagnet with four kinds of neighboring exchange interaction. From magnetic susceptibility and high-field magnetization measurements, it was found that the ground state is a disordered singlet with the spin gap, as predicted from a recent theory. …
The spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ kagome antiferromagnet is an archetypal frustrated system predicted to host a variety of exotic magnetic states. We show using neutron scattering measurements that deuterated vesignieite BaCu$_{3}$V$_{2}$O$_{8}$(OD)$_{2}$, a fully stoichiometric $S=1/2$ kagome magnet with $<$1% lattice distortion, orders magnetically at $T_{\mathrm{N}}=9$K into a multi-k coplanar variant of the predicted triple-k octahedral structure. We find this structure is stabilized by a dominant antiferromagnetic 3$^{\mathrm{rd}}$-neighbor exchange $J_3$ with minor 1$^{\mathrm{st}}$- or 2$^{\mathrm…
We study the competition between $\sqrt{3} \times \sqrt{3}$ (RT3) and $q=0$ (Q0) magnetic orders in spin-one and spin-$3/2$ Kagome-lattice XXZ antiferromagnets with varying XY anisotropy parameter $Δ$, using series expansion methods. The Hamiltonian is split into two parts: an $H_0$ which favors the classical order in the desired pattern and an $H_1$, which is treated in perturbation theory by a series expansion. We find that the ground state energy series for the RT3 and Q0 phases are identical up to sixth order in the expansion, but ultimately a selection occurs, which depends on spin and th…
The ground state of the simple Heisenberg nearest-neighbor quantum kagome antiferromagnetic model is a magnetically disordered spin liquid, yet various perturbations may lead to fundamentally different states. Here we disclose the origin of magnetic ordering in the structurally-perfect kagome material YCu$_3$(OH)$_6$Cl$_3$, which is free of the widespread impurity problem. {\it Ab-initio} calculations and modeling of its magnetic susceptibility reveal that, similar to the archetypal case of herbertsmithite, the nearest-neighbor exchange is by far the dominant isotropic interaction. Dzyaloshins…
Mn3V2O8 is a magnetic system in which S = 5/2 Mn2+ is found in the kagome staircase lattice. Here we report the magnetic phase diagram for temperatures above 2 K and applied magnetic fields below 9 T, characterized by measurements of the magnetization and specific heat with field along the three unique lattice directions. At low applied magnetic fields, the system first orders magnetically below Tm1 ~ 21 K, and then shows a second magnetic phase transition at Tm2 ~ 15 K. In addition, a phase transition that is apparent in specific heat but not seen in magnetization is found for all three appli…
The breaking of chiral and time-reversal symmetries provides a pathway to exotic quantum phenomena and topological phases. In particular, the breaking of chiral (mirror) symmetry in quantum materials has been shown to have important technological applications. Recent work has extensively explored the resulting emergence of chiral charge orders and chiral spin liquids on the kagomé lattice. Such chiral spin liquids are closely tied to bosonic fractional quantum Hall states and host anyonic quasiparticles; however, their connection to nearby magnetically ordered states has remained a mystery. He…
At low temperatures, the thermal conductivity of spin excitations in a magnetic insulator can exceed that of phonons. However, because they are charge neutral, the spin waves are not expected to display a thermal Hall effect in a magnetic field. Recently, this semiclassical notion has been upended in quantum magnets in which the spin texture has a finite chirality. In the Kagome lattice, the chiral term generates a Berry curvature. This results in a thermal Hall conductivity $κ_{xy}$ that is topological in origin. Here we report observation of a large $κ_{xy}$ in the Kagome magnet Cu(1-3, bdc)…
Recent experiments on the "hyper-kagome" lattice system Na$_4$Ir$_3$O$_8$ have demonstrated that it is a rare example of a three dimensional spin-1/2 frustrated antiferromagnet. We investigate the role of quantum fluctuations as the primary mechanism lifting the macroscopic degeneracy inherited by classical spins on this lattice. In the semi-classical limit we predict, based on large-N calculations, that an unusual $\vec q=0$ coplaner magnetically ordered ground state is stabilized with no local "weather vane" modes. This phase melts in the quantum limit and a gapped topological Z$_2$ spin liq…
There is growing evidence from both experiment and numerical studies that low half-odd integer quantum spins on a kagome lattice with predominant antiferromagnetic near neighbor interactions do not order magnetically or break lattice symmetries even at temperatures much lower than the exchange interaction strength. Moreover, there appear to be a plethora of low energy excitations, predominantly singlets but also spin carrying, which suggest that the putative underlying quantum spin liquid is a gapless ``critical spin liquid'' rather than a gapped spin liquid with topological order. Here, we de…
Herbertsmithite, ZnCu$_3$(OH)$_6$Cl$_2$, is a two dimensional kagomé lattice realization of a spin liquid, with evidence for fractionalized excitations and a gapped ground state. Such a quantum spin liquid has been proposed to underlie high temperature superconductivity and is predicted to produce a wealth of new states, including a Dirac metal at $1/3$rd electron doping. Here we report the topochemical synthesis of electron-doped ZnLi$_x$Cu$_3$(OH)$_6$Cl$_2$ from $x$ = 0 to $x$ = 1.8 ($3/5$th per Cu$^{2+}$). Contrary to expectations, no metallicity or superconductivity is induced. Instead, we…
Recent discoveries in neutron scattering experiments for Kapellasite and Herbertsmithite as well as theoretical calculations of possible spin liquid phases have revived interest in magnetic phenomena on the kagome lattice. We study the quantum phase diagram of the S=1/2 Heisenberg kagome model as a function of nearest neighbor coupling J1 and second neighbor coupling J2. Employing the pseudofermion functional renormalization group, we find four types of magnetic quantum order (q=0 order, cuboc order, ferromagnetic order, and Sqrt{3}x\Sqrt{3} order) as well as extended magnetically disordered r…
By using the variational Monte Carlo technique, we study the spin-$1/2$ XXZ antiferromagnetic model (with easy-plane anisotropy) on the kagome lattice. A class of Gutzwiller projected fermionic states with a spin Jastrow factor is considered to describe either spin liquids (with $U(1)$ or $Z_2$ symmetry) or magnetically ordered phases (with ${\bf q}=(0,0)$ or ${\bf q}=(4π/3,0)$). We find that the magnetic states are not stable in the thermodynamic limit. Moreover, there is no energy gain to break the gauge symmetry from $U(1)$ to $Z_2$ within the spin-liquid states, as previously found in the …
Unraveling the Kagome Antiferromagnetic $3J$ Model and Its Materials: An Integrated Approach
The University of Hong Kong（香港大学）；Univ Toulouse, CNRS, Laboratoire de Physique Théorique（图卢兹大学，法国国家科学研究中心，理论物理实验室）；Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院物理研究所）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）
Frustrated magnetism on the kagome lattice has been a fertile ground for rich and fascinating physics, ranging from experimental evidence of a spin liquid to theoretical predictions of exotic superconductivity. Among experimentally realized spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ kagome magnets, herbertsmithite, kapellasite, and haydeeite [(Zn,Mg)Cu$_{3}$(OH)$_{6}$Cl$_{2}$] are all well described by a three-parameter Heisenberg model, but they exhibit distinctly different physics. We address the problem using a pseudofermion functional renormalization-group approach and analyze the low-energy physics in the experi…
We investigate the effects of Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya (DM) interactions on the frustrated $J_1$-$J_2$ kagome-Heisenberg model using the pseudo-fermion functional-renormalization-group (PFFRG) technique. In order to treat the off-diagonal nature of DM interactions, we develop an extended PFFRG scheme. We benchmark this approach in parameter regimes that have previously been studied with other methods and find good agreement of the magnetic phase diagram. Particularly, finite DM interactions are found to stabilize all types of non-collinear magnetic orders of the $J_1$-$J_2$ Heisenberg model ($\mat…
We study the quantum phase diagram of the spin-$1/2$ Heisenberg model on the kagomé lattice with first-, second-, and third-neighbor interactions $J_1$, $J_2$, and $J_3$ by means of density matrix renormalization group. For small $J_2$ and $J_3$, this model sustains a time-reversal invariant quantum spin liquid phase. With increasing $J_2$ and $J_3$, we find in addition a $q=(0,0)$ Néel phase, a chiral spin liquid phase, a valence-bond crystal phase, and a complex non-coplanar magnetically ordered state with spins forming the vertices of a cuboctahedron known as a cuboc1 phase. Both the chiral…
The magnetic ground state of the ideal quantum kagome antiferromagnet (QKA) has been a long-standing puzzle, mainly because perturbations to the nearest-neighbor isotropic Heisenberg Hamiltonian can lead to various fundamentally different ground states. Here we investigate a recently synthesized QKA representative YCu$_3$(OH)$_6$Cl$_3$, where perturbations commonly present in real materials, like lattice distortion and intersite ion mixing, are absent. Nevertheless, this compound enters a long-range magnetically ordered state below $T_N=15$ K. Our powder neutron diffraction experiment reveals …
We use the coupled cluster method to high orders of approximation in order to calculate the ground-state phase diagram of the XXZ spin-$s$ kagome antiferromagnet with easy-plane anisotropy, i.e. the anisotropy parameter $Δ$ varies between $Δ=1$ (isotropic Heisenberg model) and $Δ=0$ ($XY$ model). We find that for the extreme quantum case $s=1/2$ the ground state is magnetically disordered in the entire region $0 \le Δ\le 1$. For $s=1$ the ground state is disordered for $0.818 < Δ\le 1$, it exhibits $\sqrt{3}\times\sqrt{3}$ magnetic long-range order for $0.281 < Δ<0.818$, and $q=0$ magnetic lon…
A Z2 quantum spin liquid hosts one of the simplest topological orders and exhibits many exotic properties due to long-range quantum entanglements. Its elementary excitations are anyons such as spinons carrying fractionalized spin quantum number and visons carrying emergent Z2 gauge flux. However, experimental detection of these anyons remains elusive. The difficulties lie not only in the fact that there exists few candidates for Z2 quantum spin liquids but also in that visons are magnetically inert hence immune to available experimental techniques. Here we have studied the spin excitations and…
Hexagonal antiferromagnets Cs$_2$Cu$_3$MF$_{12}$ (M = Zr, Hf and Sn) have uniform Kagome lattices of Cu$^{2+}$ with S = 1/2, whereas Rb$_2$Cu$_3$SnF$_{12}$ has a 2a by 2a enlarged cell as compared with the uniform Kagome lattice. The crystal data of Cs$_2$Cu$_3$SnF$_{12}$ synthesized first in the present work are reported. We performed magnetic susceptibility measurements on this family of Kagome antiferromagnet using single crystals. In the Cs$_2$Cu$_3$MF$_{12}$ systems, structural phase transitions were observed at $T_t = 225$ K, 172 K and 185 K for M = Zr, Hf and Sn, respectively. The magne…
Motivated by recent experiments on the quantum-spin-liquid candidate material LiZn2Mo3O8, we study a single-band extended Hubbard model on an anisotropic Kagome lattice with the 1/6 electron filling. Due to the partial filling of the lattice, the inter-site repulsive interaction is necessary to generate Mott insulators, where electrons are localized in clusters, rather than at lattice sites. It is shown that these cluster Mott insulators are generally U(1) quantum spin liquids with spinon Fermi surfaces. The nature of charge excitations in cluster Mott insulators can be quite different from co…
Motivated by recent experiments on the quantum-spin-liquid candidate material LiZn2Mo3O8, we study a single-band extended Hubbard model on an anisotropic Kagome lattice with the 1/6 electron filling. Due to the partial filling of the lattice, the inter-site repulsive interaction is necessary to generate Mott insulators, where electrons are localized in clusters, rather than at lattice sites. We provide examples of such cluster Mott insulators and study the phase transitions between metallic states and cluster Mott insulators on an anisotropic Kagome lattice. It is shown that these cluster Mott…
Pinch point singularities, associated with flat band magnetic excitations, are tell-tale signatures of Coulomb spin liquids. While their properties in the presence of quantum fluctuations have been widely studied, the fate of the complementary non-analytic features -- shaped as half-moons and stars -- arising from adjacent shallow dispersive bands has remained unexplored. Here, we address this question for the spin $S=1/2$ Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the kagome lattice with second and third neighbor couplings, which allows one to tune the classical ground state from flat bands to being gover…
Anomalous Hall and Nernst effects driven by static and fluctuating spin chiralities on Kagome lattice
School of Physical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学物理科学学院）；School of Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学电子电气与通信工程学院）；Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院理论物理研究所）；Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学科维理理论科学研究所）
Synergistic doping and stabilization of magnetically tunable LnTi$_3$(Sb,Sn)$_4$ (Ln:Ce--Gd) kagome metals
Oak Ridge National Laboratory（橡树岭国家实验室）；Norfolk State University（诺福克州立大学）；University of Central Florida（中佛罗里达大学）；Gdansk University of Technology（格但斯克理工大学）
We study the quantum spin liquid phase in a variant of the Kitaev model where the bonds of the honeycomb lattice are distributed in a Kekulé pattern. The system supports gapped and gapless Z_2 quantum spin liquids with interesting differences from the original Kitaev model, the most notable being a gapped Z_2 spin liquid on a Kagome lattice. Perturbing the exactly solvable model with antiferromagnetic Heisenberg perturbations, we find a magnetically ordered phase stabilized by a quantum `order by disorder' mechanism, as well as an exotic continuous phase transition between the topological spin…
Co3V2O8 (CVO) has a geometrically frustrated magnetic lattice, a Kagome staircase. The crystal structure consists of two inequivalent Co sites, one-dimensional chains of Co(2) spine sites, linked by Co(1) cross-tie sites. Neutron powder diffraction has been used to solve the basic magnetic and crystal structures of this system, while polarized and unpolarized single crystal diffraction measurements have been used to reveal a variety of incommensurate phases, interspersed with lock-in transitions to commensurate phases. CVO initially orders magnetically at 11.3 K into an incommensurate, transve…
Recent discovery of topologically non-trivial behavior in Co3Sn2S2 stimulated a notable interest in this itinerant ferromagnet (Tc = 174 K). The exact magnetic state remains ambiguous, with several reports indicating the existence of a second transition in the range 125 -- 130 K, with antiferromagnetic and glassy phases proposed to coexist with the ferromagnetic phase. Using detailed angle-dependent DC and AC magnetization measurements on large, high-quality single crystals we reveal a highly anisotropic behavior of both static and dynamic response of Co3Sn2S2. It is established that many obse…
For the spin-3/2 kagome staircase system Co3V2O8, magnetic field (H)-temperature (T) phase diagrams have been constructed for the fields along three principal directions up to 5 T, using results of various macroscopic measurements on single crystal samples and also using neutron diffraction data taken on both powder and single crystal samples under H along c. In zero magnetic field, the system exhibits three transitions at temperatures Tc1~11.2 K, Tc2~8.8 K and Tc3~ (6.0-7.0) K. The single crystal data present clear evidence for the noncollinear nature of the magnetic structures in all magneti…
We report on novel magnetic and electronic properties of SrCo6O11 that exhibits a unique stepwise magnetization and its relevant magnetotransport phenomena investigated by the site-selective 59Co nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) at zero and applied magnetic fields. This compound is composed of three Co sites in the unit cell, i.e., Co(1) in the metallic Kagome layer, a Co(2) dimerized pillar between the layers and Co(3) in the triangular lattice. Zero-field NMR spectra have revealed that large local moments at the Co(3) sites are magnetically ordered without any trace of bulk magnetization M a…
Co3V2O8 is an orthorhombic magnet in which S=3/2 magnetic moments reside on two crystallographically inequivalent Co2+ sites, which decorate a stacked, buckled version of the two dimensional kagome lattice, the stacked kagome staircase. The magnetic interactions between the Co2+ moments in this structure lead to a complex magnetic phase diagram at low temperature, wherein it exhibits a series of five transitions below 11 K that ultimately culminate in a simple ferromagnetic ground state below T~6.2 K. Here we report magnetization measurements on single and polycrystalline samples of (Co(1-x)Mg…
We assess the ground-state phase diagram of the $J_1$-$J_2$ Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice by employing Gutzwiller-projected fermionic wave functions. Within this framework, different states can be represented, defined by distinct unprojected fermionic Hamiltonians that include hopping and pairing terms, as well as a coupling to local Zeeman fields to generate magnetic order. For $J_2=0$, the so-called U(1) Dirac state, in which only hopping is present (such as to generate a $π$-flux in the hexagons), has been shown to accurately describe the exact ground state [Y. Iqbal, F. Becca, S. …
It is well known that in quantum spin liquids and other magnetically disordered systems, the tunneling amplitudes between different nearest-neighbor valence bond (NNVB) configurations drop exponentially in the length L of the tunneling loops. Here we show that virtual excursions outside the NNVB basis can alter completely this fundamental quantum-mechanical notion even in extreme cases where the minimal NNVB truncation appears very robust. This paradigm shift is demonstrated for the quantum spin-1/2 square-kagome, where strong geometric frustration, similar to the two-dimensional kagome, preve…
Magnetic structure and high-field magnetization of the distorted kagome lattice antiferromagnet Cs$_2$Cu$_3$SnF$_{12}$
Mahidol University（玛希隆大学）；ThEP, Commission of Higher Education（高等教育委员会理论物理中心）；Osaka Prefecture University（大阪府立大学）；Phranakhon Rajabhat University（佛统皇家大学）；Radboud University（拉德堡德大学）；Neutron Science Laboratory, Institute of Materials Structure Science, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK)（高能加速器研究机构物质结构科学研究所中子科学实验室）
Dynamical Spectral Function of the Kagome Quantum Spin Liquid
Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院物理研究所）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；California Institute of Technology（加州理工学院）；Paul Scherrer Institute（保罗谢勒研究所）
The magnetic behavior of the compound, Gd3Ru4Al12, which has been reported to crystallize in a hexagonal structure about two decades ago, had not been investigated in the past literature despite interesting structural features (that is, magnetic layers and triangles as well as Kagome-lattice features favouring frustrated magnetism) characterizing this compound. We report here the results of magnetization, heat-capacity, and magnetoresistance studies in the temperature (T) range 1.8-300 K. The results establish that there is a long-range magnetic order of an antiferromagnetic type below (TN= ) …
We present powder and single-crystal neutron diffraction and bulk measurements of the Kagome-staircase compound Ni3V2O8 (NVO) in fields up to 8.5T applied along the c-direction. (The Kagome plane is the a-c plane.) This system contains two types of Ni ions, which we call "spine" and "cross-tie". Our neutron measurements can be described with the paramagnetic space group Cmca for T < 15K and each observed magnetically ordered phase is characterized by the appropriate irreducible representation(s). Our zero-field measurements show that at T_PH=9.1K NVO undergoes a transition to an incommensurate…
We present a program (SPINVERT; http://spinvert.chem.ox.ac.uk)for refinement of magnetic diffuse scattering data for frustrated magnets, spin liquids, spin glasses, and other magnetically disordered materials. The approach uses reverse Monte Carlo refinement to fit a large configuration of spins to experimental powder neutron diffraction data. Despite fitting to spherically-averaged data, this approach allows the recovery of the three-dimensional magnetic diffuse scattering pattern and the spin-pair correlation function. We illustrate the use of the SPINVERT program with two case studies. Firs…
On a lattice composed of triangular plaquettes where antiferromagnetic exchange interactions between localized spins cannot be simultaneously satisfied, the system becomes geometrically frustrated with magnetically disordered phases remarkably different from a simple paramagnet. Spin liquid belongs to one of these exotic states, in which a macroscopic degeneracy of the ground state gives rise to the rich spectrum of collective phenomena. Here, we report on the discovery of a new magnetic state in the heterostructures derived from a single unit cell (111)-oriented spinel CoCr2O4 sandwiched betw…
