Supersolid phase induced by correlated hopping in spin-1/2 frustrated quantum magnets

We show that correlated hopping of triplets, which is often the dominant source of kinetic energy in dimer-based frustrated quantum magnets, produces a remarkably strong tendency to form supersolid phases in a magnetic field. These phases are characterized by simultaneous modulation and ordering of the longitudinal and transverse magnetization, respectively. Using quantum Monte Carlo and a semiclassical approach for an effective hard-core boson model with nearest-neighbor repulsion on a square lattice, we prove, in particular, that a supersolid phase can exist even if the repulsion is not strong enough to stabilize an insulating phase at half-filling. Experimental implications for frustrated quantum antiferromagnets in a magnetic field at zero and finite temperature are discussed.     

Geometric magnetic frustration in Ba(2)Sn(2)Ga(3)ZnCr(7)O(22): a two-dimensional spinel based Kagomé lattice

The properties of a two-dimensional geometrically frustrated magnetic material based on the Kagomé net, Ba(2)Sn(2)ZnGa(3)Cr(7)O(22), are reported. The Kagomé net is fully filled with magnetic ions. A Curie-Weiss theta theta(W) = -312 K is found with a spin glass transition at approximately 1.5 K, indicating strong geometrical magnetic frustration. This compound is the most two dimensional of a structural series with the geometrically frustrated materials ZnCr(2)O(4) and SrCr(8)Ga(4)O(19). The comparison of their properties tests the influence of different degrees of coupling between Kagomé layers on magnetic frustration within a single chemical and structural family.     

Evidence for Kosterlitz-Thouless behavior in the disordered and frustrated two-dimensionalXY-model

We present Monte-Carlo results providing strong evidence for a non-universal Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in the disordered and frustrated two-dimensionalXY-model for various magnetic fields, giving rise to frustration.     

Vortex glass transition in a frustrated 3D XY model with disorder

The anisotropic frustrated three-dimensional (3D) XY model with disorder in the coupling constants is simulated as a model of a point disordered superconductor in an applied magnetic field. A finite size scaling analysis of the helicity modulus gives strong evidence for a finite temperature transition with isotropic scaling and the correlation length exponent nu=1.5+/-0.3, consistent with 3D gauge glass universality.     

Importance of itinerancy and quantum fluctuations for the magnetism in ironpnictides

By applying density functional theory, we find strong evidence for an itinerant nature of magnetism in two families of iron pnictides. Furthermore, by employing dynamical mean field theory with continuous time quantum Monte Carlo as an impurity solver, we observe that the antiferromagnetic metal with small magnetic moment naturally arises out of coupling between unfrustrated and frustrated bands. Our results point to a possible scenario for magnetism in iron pnictides where magnetism originates from a strong instability at the momentum vector (π,π,π) while it is reduced by quantum fluctuations due to the coupling between weakly and strongly frustrated bands.     

Magnetic correlations in the Hubbard model on triangular and Kagomé lattices

In order to study the magnetic properties of frustrated metallic systems, we present, for the first time, quantum Monte Carlo data on the magnetic susceptibility of the Hubbard model on triangular and kagomé lattices. We show that the underlying lattice structure determines the nature and the doping dependence of the magnetic fluctuations. In particular, in the doped kagomé case we find strong short-range magnetic correlations, which makes the metallic kagomé systems a promising field for studies of superconductivity.     

Origin of ferroelectricity in high-T(c) magnetic ferroelectric CuO

Cupric oxide is a unique magnetic ferroelectric material with a transition temperature significantly higher than the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. However, the mechanism of high-T(c) multiferroicity in CuO remains puzzling. In this Letter, we clarify the mechanism of high-T(c) multiferroicity in CuO by using combined first-principles calculations and an effective hamiltonian model. We find that CuO contains two magnetic sublattices, with strong intrasublattice interactions and weakly frustrated intersublattice interactions. The weak spin frustration leads to incommensurate spin excitations that dramatically enhance the entropy of the multiferroic phase and eventually stabilize that phase in CuO.     

Low-temperature heat transport of the zigzag spin-chain compound SrEr2O4

Low-temperature thermal conductivity ($\kappa$), as well as the magnetic properties and specific heat, are studied for the frustrated zigzag spin-chain material SrEr$_{2}$O$_{4}$ by using single-crystal samples. The specific heat data indicate the long-range antiferromagnetic transition at $\sim 0.73 $ K and the existence of strong magnetic fluctuations. The magnetizations at very low temperatures for magnetic field along the $c$ axis (spin chain direction) or the $a$ axis reveal the field-induced magnetic transitions. The $\kappa $ shows a strong dependence on magnetic field, applied along the $c$ axis or the $a$ axis, which is closely related to the magnetic transitions. Furthermore, high magnetic field induces a strong increase of $\kappa $. These results indicate that thermal conductivity along either the $c$ axis or the $a$ axis are mainly contributed by phonons, while magnetic excitations play a role of scattering phonons.     

A simulation study on the magnetic ordering in an artificial geometrically frustrated lattice

A Monte Carlo simulation on the magnetic ordering of the artificial geometrically frustrated square lattice shows that the system exhibits the spin ice state and the disorder state for strong and weak dipolar interactions. We demonstrate that the long-range dipolar interactions are significant for the short-range spin ice state.     

Spiral magnetic structure in Heisenberg and non-Heisenberg magnets

The possibility of forming a modulated (spiral) magnetic structure in anisotropic Heisenberg and non-Heisenberg magnets with a frustrated Heisenberg exchange interaction has been investigated. It has been demonstrated that, apart from homogeneous (ferromagnetic and quadrupole) states, the Heisenberg magnets with a strong easy-plane anisotropy can have a spiral magnetic structure. The axis of the spiral coincides with the direction of the external magnetic field. The inclusion of the biquadratic exchange interaction leads to a narrowing of the magnetic field region of the existence of the spiral structure. In the absence of the external magnetic field, the spiral structure can be formed only in the case of easy-axis anisotropy.     

Spin dynamics and magnetic order in magnetically frustrated Tb2Sn2O7

We report a study of the geometrically frustrated magnetic material Tb2Sn2O7 by the positive muon-spin relaxation technique. No signature of a static magnetically ordered state is detected while neutron magnetic reflections are observed in agreement with a published report. This is explained by the dynamical nature of the ground state of Tb2Sn2O7: the Tb3+ magnetic moment characteristic fluctuation time is approximately 10(-10) s. The strong effect of the magnetic field on the muon-spin-lattice relaxation rate at low fields indicates a large field-induced increase of the magnetic density of states of the collective excitations at low energy.     

Thermodynamic and magnetic properties in two artificial frustrated lattices

With the Monte Carlo simulation, we investigate the thermodynamics and magnetic properties of the artificial frustrated square and honeycomb lattices. The results from the Ising-like dipolar model show that there occurs one magnetic order transition for the square lattice while the honeycomb lattice exhibits two magnetic order phase transitions. When the magnetic field is applied perpendicular to one of sublattices, a sharp field-independent peak in the specific heat curves appears at a very low temperature for both frustrated lattices due to the occurrence of a long-range ordered state induced by the magnetic field. For the square lattice, the coercive field slightly increases with the angle of field relative to the vertical axis. For both frustrated lattices, the magnetic reversal is achieved mostly via flipping a chain of the nearest neighbor spins.     

Empirical magnetic structure solution of frustrated spin systems

Frustrated magnetism plays a central role in the phenomenology of exotic quantum states. However, since the magnetic structures of frustrated systems are often aperiodic, there has been the problem that they cannot be determined by using traditional crystallographic techniques. Here we show that the magnetic component of powder neutron scattering data is actually sufficiently information-rich to drive magnetic structure solution for frustrated systems, including spin ices, spin liquids, and molecular magnets. Our methodology employs ab?initio reverse Monte?Carlo refinement, making informed use of an additional constraint that minimizes variance in local spin environments. The atomistic spin configurations obtained in this way not only reflect a magnetic structure "solution" but also reproduce the full three-dimensional magnetic scattering pattern.     

Anomalously strong relaxation of the polarization of muons in the magnetically ordered and paramagnetic states of the TbMnO<Subscript>3</Subscript> multiferroic

An anomalously strong relaxation of the muon polarization in a magnetically ordered state in the TbMnO₃ multiferroic has been revealed by the method below the μSR Néel temperature (42 K). Such a relaxation is due to the muon channel of relaxation of the polarization and the interaction of the magnetic moment of the muon with inhomogeneities of the internal magnetic field of an ordered state in the form of a cycloid. Above the Néel temperature, beginning with temperatures depending on the applied magnetic field, a two-phase state has been revealed where one phase has an anomalously strong relaxation of the muon polarization for a paramagnetic state. These features of the paramagnetic state are due to short-range magnetic order domains that appear in strongly frustrated TbMnO₃. A true paramagnetic state has been observed only at T ≥ 150 K.     

Magnetic properties of strongly frustrated and correlated systems

While consequences of frustration of magnetic interactions are much studied in localized spin systems, much less studies have been performed on frustrated metallic systems. However, several effects of strong geometrical frustration in metallic correlated system have also been experimentally observed in rare-earth or transition metal compounds: coexistence of magnetic and non-magnetic sites in ordered magnetic structure, heavy fermion behaviour and anomalous Hall effect due to spin chirality are consequences of frustration. An overview of the experimental observations and of the proposed models is given. Other interesting effects due to magnetic frustration in metallic systems, which have been predicted theoretically, are also reviewed.     

Ordering of magnetic impurities and tunable electronic properties of topological insulators

We study collective behavior of magnetic adatoms randomly distributed on the surface of a topological insulator. Interactions of an ensemble of adatoms are frustrated, as the RKKY-type interactions of two adatom spins depend on the directions of spins relative to the vector connecting them. We show that at low temperatures the frustrated RKKY interactions give rise to two phases: an ordered ferromagnetic phase with spins pointing perpendicular to the surface, and a disordered spin-glass-like phase. The two phases are separated by a quantum phase transition driven by the magnetic exchange anisotropy. The ordered phase breaks time-reversal symmetry spontaneously, driving the surface states into a gapped state, which exhibits an anomalous quantum Hall effect and provides a realization of the parity anomaly. We find that the magnetic ordering is suppressed by potential scattering.     

Magnetic dipolar ordering on geometrically frustrated brick-shaped lattices

The magnetic ordering of frustrated arrays of nanoscale islands can be strongly influenced by the array patterns. We theoretically present three kinds of artificial geometrically frustrated systems with different brick-shaped geometries, defined as brick-shaped lattices, and investigate their magnetic dipolar ordering at the ground state using the Monte Carlo method. The simulated results show that the magnetic ordering of three brick-shaped frustrated lattices depends strongly on the strength of dipolar interactions, depending on the lattice spacing. It is found that the long-range dipolar interactions tend to suppress the long-range ordered state and induce the short-range quasi-ice state at each vertex of the lattices. In addition, the correlations for neighboring spin pairs are closely related to not only the dipolar coupling strength but also the geometry of the lattices.     

Origin of the 150-K anomaly in LaFeAsO: competing antiferromagnetic interactions, frustration, and a structural phase transition

From all-electron fixed-spin-moment calculations we show that ferromagnetic and checkerboard antiferromagnetic ordering in LaFeAsO are not stable and the stripe antiferromagnetic configuration with M(Fe)=0.48 microB is the only stable ground state. The main exchange interactions between Fe ions are large, antiferromagnetic, and frustrated. The magnetic stripe phase breaks the tetragonal symmetry, removes the frustration, and causes a structural distortion. These results successfully explain the magnetic and structural phase transitions in LaFeAsO recently observed by neutron scattering. The presence of competing strong antiferromagnetic exchange interactions suggests that magnetism and superconductivity in doped LaFeAsO may be strongly coupled, much like in the high-T(c) cuprates.     

Quantum phase transition of the Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov states in two-dimensional anisotropic triangular system

Based on the Bogoliubov de Gennes (BdG) equations, we study the Fulde–Ferrell–Larkin–Ovchinnikov (FFLO) states for d-wave superconductor in anisotropic triangular system self-consistently with a strong magnetic field applied parallel to its conducting planes. We find that the two-dimensional FFLO state transforms to one-dimensional FFLO state as the system frustrated. The calculated local density of states are suggested to distinguish these states.     

Coercivity enhancement in exchange biased systems driven by interfacial magnetic frustration

We report the temperature and cooling field dependence of the coercivity of exchange biased MnF(2)/Fe bilayers. When the antiferromagnetic surface is in a state of maximum magnetic frustration and the net exchange bias is zero, we observe a strong enhancement of the coercivity, which is proportional to the exchange coupling between the layers. Hence, the coercivity can be tuned in a reproducible and repeatable fashion in the same sample. We propose that a frustrated interface provides local energy minima which effectively pin the propagating domain walls in the ferromagnet, leading to an enhanced coercivity.