Spin-strain coupling in NiCl2-4SC(NH2)2

We report results of ultrasonic investigations of the quantum S = 1 spin-chain magnet NiCl2-4SC(NH2)2, also known as DTN, in magnetic fields up to 18 T and temperatures down to 0.3 K. A field H along the [001] direction induces a transition into an antiferromagnetic phase with T(N)max ≈ 1.2 K. Accordingly, at T = 0 there are two quantum critical points at ~2.1 T and at ~12.6 T. The acoustic c33 mode, propagating along the spin chains, shows a pronounced softening close to the phase transition, accompanied by energy dissipation of the sound wave. The H-T phase diagram obtained from our measurements is compared with results from other experimental investigations and the low-temperature acoustic anomalies are traced up to T > T(N). We also report frequency-dependent effects, which open the possibility to investigate the spin fluctuations in the critical regions. Our observations show an important role of the spin-phonon coupling in DTN

Magnetic excitations in the spin-1 anisotropic antiferromagnet NiCl2−4SC(NH2)2NiCl_2-4SC(NH_2)_2

The spin-1 anisotropic antiferromagnet NiCl_2-4SC(NH2)_2 exhibits a field-induced quantum phase transition that is formally analogous to Bose-Einstein condensation. Here we present results of systematic high-field electron spin resonance (ESR) experimental and theoretical studies of this compound with a special emphasis on single-ion two-magnon bound states. In order to clarify some remaining discrepancies between theory and experiment, the frequency-field dependence of magnetic excitations in this material is reanalyzed. In particular, a more comprehensive interpretation of the experimental signature of single-ion two-magnon bound states is shown to be fully consistent with theoretical results. We also clarify the structure of the ESR spectrum in the so-called intermediate phase.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

Magnetoelectric effects in an organo-metallic quantum magnet

We observe a bilinear magnetic field-induced electric polarization of 50 $\mu C/m^2$ in single crystals of NiCl$_2$-4SC(NH$_2$)$_2$ (DTN). DTN forms a tetragonal structure that breaks inversion symmetry, with the highly polar thiourea molecules all tilted in the same direction along the c-axis. Application of a magnetic field between 2 and 12 T induces canted antiferromagnetism of the Ni spins and the resulting magnetization closely tracks the electric polarization. We speculate that the Ni magnetic forces acting on the soft organic lattice can create significant distortions and modify the angles of the thiourea molecules, thereby creating a magnetoelectric effect. This is an example of how magnetoelectric effects can be constructed in organo-metallic single crystals by combining magnetic ions with electrically polar organic elements.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure

The effects of disorder in dimerized quantum magnets in mean field approximations

We study theoretically the effects of disorder on Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) of bosonic triplon quasiparticles in doped dimerized quantum magnets. The condensation occurs in a strong enough magnetic field Hc, where the concentration of bosons in the random potential is sufficient to form the condensate. The effect of doping is partly modeled by delta - correlated disorder potential, which (i) leads to the uniform renormalization of the system parameters and (ii) produces disorder in the system with renormalized parameters. These approaches can explain qualitatively the available magnetization data in the Tl_(1-x)K_(x)CuCl_3 compound taken as an example. In addition to the magnetization, we found that the speed of the Bogoliubov mode has a peak as a function of doping parameter, x. No evidence of the pure Bose glass phase has been obtained in the BEC regime.Comment: Includes 19 pages, 5 figure

Bose-Einstein condensation in antiferromagnets close to the saturation field

At zero temperature and strong applied magnetic fields the ground sate of an anisotropic antiferromagnet is a saturated paramagnet with fully aligned spins. We study the quantum phase transition as the field is reduced below an upper critical $H_{c2}$ and the system enters a XY-antiferromagnetic phase. Using a bond operator representation we consider a model spin-1 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic with single-ion anisotropy in hyper-cubic lattices under strong magnetic fields. We show that the transition at $H_{c2}$ can be interpreted as a Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of magnons. The theoretical results are used to analyze our magnetization versus field data in the organic compound $NiCl_2$-$4SC(NH_2)_2$ (DTN) at very low temperatures. This is the ideal BEC system to study this transition since $H_{c2}$ is sufficiently low to be reached with static magnetic fields (as opposed to pulsed fields). The scaling of the magnetization as a function of field and temperature close to $H_{c2}$ shows excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions. It allows to obtain the quantum critical exponents and confirm the BEC nature of the transition at $H_{c2}$.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. Accepted for publication in PRB