Breakdown of linear spin-wave theory and existence of spinon bound states in the frustrated kagome-lattice antiferromagnet

Mattan, K.*; Ono, Toshio*; Kawamura, Seiko; Nakajima, Kenji; Nambu, Yusuke*; Sato, Taku*

Physical Review B, 105(13), p.134403_1 - 134403_8, 2022/04

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.105.134403

Spin dynamics of the spin-1/2 kagome-lattice antiferromagnet CsCuSnF was studied using high-resolution, time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering. The flat mode, a characteristic of the frustrated kagome antiferromagnet, and the low-energy dispersive mode, which is dominated by magnons, can be well described by the linear spin-wave theory. However, the theory fails to describe three weakly dispersive modes between 9 and 14 meV. These modes could be attributed to two-spinon bound states, which decay into free spinons away from the zone center and at a high temperature, giving rise to continuum scattering.

Magnons and spinons in BaCoTeO; A Composite system of isolated spin- triangular Heisenberg-like and frustrated honeycomb Ising-like antiferromagnets

Kojima, Yuki*; Kurita, Nubuyuki*; Tanaka, Hidekazu*; Nakajima, Kenji

Physical Review B, 105(2), p.L020408_1 - L020408_6, 2022/01

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.105.L020408

We report the neutron scattering results on magnetic orderings and excitations in BaCoTeO composed of two almost isolated subsystems A and B, which are described as an triangular Heisenberg-like antiferromagnet and a frustrated honeycomb Ising-like antiferromagnet, respectively. It was found that the excitation spectra of both subsystems are well separated and independent of each other. The excitation spectrum of subsystem A is composed of two single-magnon branches with roton-like minima at the M point and a clearly structured intense continuum, as similarly observed in BaCoSbO, which is strongly indicative of spinon excitations. Dispersion curves for subsystem B can be described by linear spin wave theory within the third-neighbor exchange interaction.

Bound spinon excitations in the spin- anisotropic triangular antiferromagnet CaReOCl

Nawa, Kazuhiro*; Hirai, Daigoro*; Kofu, Maiko; Nakajima, Kenji; Murasaki, Ryo*; Kogane, Satoshi*; Kimata, Motoi*; Nojiri, Hiroyuki*; Hiroi, Zenji*; Sato, Taku*

Physical Review Research (Internet), 2(4), p.043121_1 - 043121_11, 2020/12

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.043121

The spin excitations of the = anisotropic triangular antiferromagnet CaReOCl were investigated by inelastic neutron-scattering experiments. The spin excitation spectrum exhibits sharp dispersive modes in addition to a spinonlike continuum. The consistency with the simulated spectrum based on the random-phase approximation is better for CaReOCl than for CsCuCl, indicating that the spin system in the former remains closer to a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquidlike disordered state.

=0 long-range magnetic order in centennialite CaCu(OD)Cl 0.6DO; A Spin- perfect kagome antiferromagnet with --

Iida, Kazuki*; Yoshida, Hiroyuki*; Nakao, Akiko*; Jeschke, H. O.*; Iqbal, Y.*; Nakajima, Kenji; Kawamura, Seiko; Munakata, Koji*; Inamura, Yasuhiro; Murai, Naoki; et al.

Physical Review B, 101(22), p.220408_1 - 220408_6, 2020/06

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.220408

Crystal and magnetic structures of the mineral centennialite CaCu(OD)Cl 0.6DO are investigated by means of synchrotron X-ray diffraction and neutron diffraction measurements complemented by density functional theory (DFT) and pseudofermion functional renormalization group (PFFRG) calculations. In CaCu(OD)Cl 0.6DO, Cu ions form a geometrically perfect kagome network with antiferromagnetic . No intersite disorder between Cu and Ca ions is detected. CaCu(OD)Cl 0.6DO enters a magnetic long-range ordered state below = 7.2 K, and the =0 magnetic structure with negative vector spin chirality is obtained. The ordered moment at 0.3 K is suppressed to 0.58(2)B. Our DFT calculations indicate the presence of antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic superexchange couplings of a strength which places the system at the crossroads of three magnetic orders (at the classical level) and a spin- PFFRG analysis shows a dominance of =0 type magnetic correlations, consistent with and indicating proximity to the observed =0 spin structure. The results suggest that this material is located close to a quantum critical point and is a good realization of a -- kagome antiferromagnet.

Background issues encountered by cold-neutron chopper spectrometer AMATERAS

Kikuchi, Tatsuya*; Nakajima, Kenji; Kawamura, Seiko; Inamura, Yasuhiro; Nakamura, Mitsutaka; Wakai, Daisuke*; Aoyama, Kazuhiro*; Iwahashi, Takaaki*; Kambara, Wataru*

Physica B; Condensed Matter, 564, p.45 - 53, 2019/07

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physb.2019.02.015

Details of the background, that is, unwanted signals accumulated by the data acquisition system of neutron instruments, observed by the cold-neutron chopper spectrometer AMATERAS installed at the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility at J-PARC are reported. In the design phase of AMATERAS, we carefully considered the achievement of high signal-to-noise ratio, and possible countermeasures were implemented. Actually, recent scientific outputs from AMATERAS indicates that the spectrometer is one of excellent neutron instruments with low background. In spite of that, in nine years of AMATERAS operation, we have encountered unwanted signals due to various reasons, including gamma-rays emitted at materials on or near the beam line including the sample itself, scattered neutrons from the beam line devices, air scattering, electronic noise in data acquisition system, cosmic rays, T0 burst, and other unknown sources. In this report, we discuss the background observed by AMATERAS, especially in the conditions of without samples, comprehensively. The possible sources of these signals and the countermeasures considered against the above sources are discussed, which may be helpful to those who are engaged in other existing or planned neutron-scattering instruments.

Evidence for singular-phonon-induced nematic superconductivity in a topological superconductor candidate SrBiSe

Wang, J.*; Ran, K.*; Li, S.*; Ma, Z.*; Bao, S.*; Cai, Z.*; Zhang, Y.*; Nakajima, Kenji; Kawamura, Seiko; ermk, P.*; et al.

Nature Communications (Internet), 10, p.2802_1 - 2802_6, 2019/06

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10942-2

Recent issues encountered by AMATERAS; A Cold-neutron disk-chopper spectrometer

Nakajima, Kenji; Kawamura, Seiko; Kikuchi, Tatsuya*; Kofu, Maiko; Kawakita, Yukinobu; Inamura, Yasuhiro; Kambara, Wataru*; Aoyama, Kazuhiro*; Wakai, Daisuke*; Harada, Masahide; et al.

Journal of Physics; Conference Series, 1021(1), p.012031_1 - 012031_5, 2018/06

https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1021/1/012031

Spontaneous decays of magneto-elastic excitations in non-collinear antiferromagnet (Y,Lu)MnO

Oh, J.*; Le, M. D.*; Nahm, H.-H.*; Sim, H.*; Jeong, J.*; Perring, T. G.*; Woo, H.*; Nakajima, Kenji; Kawamura, Seiko; Yamani, Z.*; et al.

Nature Communications (Internet), 7, p.13146_1 - 13146_6, 2016/10

https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13146

Magnons and phonons are fundamental quasiparticles in a solid and can be coupled together to form a hybrid quasi-particle. However, detailed experimental studies on the underlying Hamiltonian of this particle are rare for actual materials. Moreover, the anharmonicity of such magnetoelastic excitations remains largely unexplored, although it is essential for a proper understanding of their diverse thermodynamic behaviour and intrinsic zero-temperature decay. Here we show that in non-collinear antiferromagnets, a strong magnon phonon coupling can significantly enhance the anharmonicity, resulting in the creation of magnetoelastic excitations and their spontaneous decay. By measuring the spin waves over the full Brillouin zone and carrying out anharmonic spin wave calculations using a Hamiltonian with an explicit magnon phonon coupling, we have identified a hybrid magnetoelastic mode in (Y,Lu)MnO and quantified its decay rate and the exchange-striction coupling termrequired to produce it.

Spin model of O-based magnet in a nanoporous metal complex

Soda, Minoru*; Homma, Yuki*; Takamizawa, Satoshi*; Kawamura, Seiko; Nakajima, Kenji; Masuda, Takatsugu*

Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, 85(3), p.034717_1 - 034717_9, 2016/03

https://doi.org/10.7566/JPSJ.85.034717

Inelastic neutron scattering experiments are performed on the nanoporous metal complex Cu--1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid (Cu-CHD) adsorbing O molecules to identify the spin model of the O-based magnet realized in the host complex. It is found that the magnetic excitations of Cu-CHDs adsorbing low- and high-concentration O molecules are explained by different spin models, the former by spin dimers and the latter by spin trimers. By using the obtained parameters and by assuming that the levels of the group of the highest energy states are reduced because of the nonnegligible spin dependence of the molecular potential of oxygen, the magnetization curves are explained quantitatively.

Spin-nematic interaction in the multiferroic compound BaCoGeO

Soda, Minoru*; Matsumoto, Masashige*; Mnsson, M.*; Kawamura, Seiko; Nakajima, Kenji; Shiina, Ryosuke*; Masuda, Takatsugu*

Physical Review Letters, 112(12), p.127205_1 - 127205_5, 2014/03

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.127205

We demonstrate the existence of the spin-nematic interactions in an easy-plane type antiferromagnet BaCoGeO by exploring the magnetic anisotropy and spin dynamics. The combination of neutron scattering and magnetic susceptibility measurements reveals that the origin of the in-plane anisotropy is an antiferro-type interaction of the spin-nematic operator. The relation between the nematic operator and the electric polarization in the ligand symmetry of this compound is presented. The introduction of the spinnematic interaction is useful to understand the physics of spin and electric dipole in multiferroic compounds.