18 research outputs found
Finite size effects and magnetic order in the spin-1/2 honeycomb lattice compound InCu{2/3}V{1/3}O{3}
High field electron spin resonance, nuclear magnetic resonance and
magnetization studies addressing the ground state of the quasi two-dimensional
spin-1/2 honeycomb lattice compound InCu{2/3}V{1/3}O{3} are reported.
Uncorrelated finite size structural domains occurring in the honeycomb planes
are expected to inhibit long range magnetic order. Surprisingly, ESR data
reveal the development of two collinear antiferromagnetic (AFM) sublattices
below ~ 20 K whereas NMR results show the presence of the staggered internal
field. Magnetization data evidence a spin reorientation transition at ~ 5.7 T.
Quantum Monte-Carlo calculations show that switching on the coupling between
the honeycomb spin planes in a finite size cluster yields a Neel-like AFM spin
structure with a substantial staggered magnetization at finite temperatures.
This may explain the occurrence of a robust AFM state in InCu{2/3}V{1/3}O{3}
despite an unfavorable effect of structural disorder.Comment: revised version, accepted as a Rapid Communication in Phys. Rev. B
(2010
Collective orbital excitations in orbitally ordered YVO3 and HoVO3
We study orbital excitations in the optical absorption spectra of YVO3 and
HoVO3. We focus on an orbital absorption band observed at 0.4 eV for
polarization E parallel c. This feature is only observed in the intermediate,
monoclinic phase. By comparison with the local crystal-field excitations in
VOCl and with recent theoretical predictions for the crystal-field levels we
show that this absorption band cannot be interpreted in terms of a local
crystal-field excitation. We discuss a microscopic model which attributes this
absorption band to the exchange of two orbitals on adjacent sites, i.e., to the
direct excitation of two orbitons. This model is strongly supported by the
observed dependence on polarization and temperature. Moreover, the calculated
spectral weight is in good agreement with the experimental result.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure
Strong magnetoelastic coupling in VOCl: Neutron and synchrotron powder x-ray diffraction study
We present a combined neutron and synchrotron powder diffraction study of the
crystal and magnetic structure of VOCl. The occurrence of antiferromagnetic
order in VOCl is accompanied by a monoclinic distortion. The high sensitivity
of the magnetic interaction parameters on V-O-V bond angles and V-V distances
yields strong magnetoelastic coupling which implies the structural distortion
below T as well as anomalous structural effects in the paramagnetic phase
Symmetry disquisition on the TiOX phase diagram (X=Br,Cl)
The sequence of phase transitions and the symmetry of, in particular, the low temperature incommensurate and spin-Peierls phases of the quasi-one-dimensional inorganic spin-Peierls system TiOX (X=Br and Cl) have been studied using inelastic light scattering experiments. The anomalous first-order character of the transition to the spin-Peierls phase is found to be a consequence of the different symmetries of the incommensurate and spin-Peierls (P21/m) phases. The pressure dependence of the lowest transition temperature strongly suggests that magnetic interchain interactions play an important role in the formation of the spin-Peierls and the incommensurate phases. Finally, a comparison of Raman data on VOCl to the TiOX spectra shows that the high energy scattering previously observed has a phononic origin.