On the possible coexistence of spiral and collinear structures in antiferromagnetic KFe(MoO<Subscript>4</Subscript>)<Subscript>2</Subscript>

The static and resonance properties of a quasi-two-dimensional antiferromagnet phase on a distorted triangular lattice of KFe(MoO₄)₂ have been experimentally studied. Magnetization curves exhibit features corresponding to the spin-flop transition in a collinear biaxial antiferromagnet and simultaneously show a magnetization plateau characteristic of a triangular spin structure. The magnetic resonance spectra also display absorption lines corresponding to the spin structures of both types. The experimental data are described in terms of a model comprising alternating weakly bound magnetic layers, in which the main two exchange integrals have different values. Below the Néel temperature (T _N =2.5 K), some of these layers possess a collinear antiferromagnetic structure, while the other layers have a triangular or spiral structure.     

Quantum anisotropic Heisenberg triangular antiferromagnet: application to CsCuCl3

Triangular anisotropic Heisenberg antiferromagnet shares with the triangular planar antiferromagnet the rich phenomenology found in presence of an external magnetic field. The physical interest in the triangular Heisenberg model is obvious because the planar model has not the quantum analogous one and, more seriously, it does not allow out-of-plane fluctuations so that it provides a very rough representation of actual magnetic insulators. Indeed, we show that magnetic resonance data on CsCuCl₃ are satisfactorily understood on the basis of the properties of the quantum triangular Heisenberg antiferromagnet with easy-plane exchange anisotropy.     

Low-temperature spin diffusion in a highly ideal S=1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain studied by muon spin relaxation

The organic radical-ion salt DEOCC-TCNQF4 contains linear chains of stacked molecules with significant Heisenberg antiferromagnet interactions along the chain and extremely weak interactions between the chains. Zero-field muSR has confirmed the absence of long-range magnetic order down to 20 mK and field-dependent muSR is found to be consistent with diffusive motion of the spin excitations. The anisotropic spin dynamics and the upper boundary for magnetic ordering temperature both indicate interchain magnetic coupling /J'/<7 mK. As the intrachain coupling J is 110 K, /J'/J/ is significantly less than 10(-4). This system therefore provides one of the most ideal examples of the one-dimensional S=1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet yet discovered.     

Multiferroic behavior in trimerized Mott insulators

We demonstrate multiferroic behavior in trimerized Mott insulators through the interplay between spins and electric dipole moments resulting from electronic charge fluctuations in frustrated units. The model consists of stacked triangular layers of trimers with small intertrimer exchange interactions J' and J'. Ferroelectric states coexist with ferro- or antiferromagnetic orderings depending on the value of the magnetic field H and the sign of the interlayer exchange J'. The electric polarization undergoes abrupt changes as a function of H.     

Dimerized phase and transitions in a spatially anisotropic square lattice antiferromagnet

We investigate the spatially anisotropic square lattice quantum antiferromagnet. The model describes isotropic spin-1/2 Heisenberg chains (exchange constant J) coupled antiferromagnetically in the transverse (J( perpendicular )) and diagonal (J(x)), with respect to the chain, directions. Classically, the model admits two ordered ground states-with antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic interchain spin correlations-separated by a first-order phase transition at J( perpendicular )=2J(x). We show that in the quantum model this transition splits into two, revealing an intermediate quantum-disordered columnar dimer phase, both in two dimensions and in a simpler two-leg ladder version. We describe quantum-critical points separating this spontaneously dimerized phase from classical ones.     

Ising transition in the two-dimensional quantum J1-J2 Heisenberg model

We study the thermodynamics of the spin-S two-dimensional quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the square lattice with nearest (J1) and next-nearest (J2) neighbor couplings in its collinear phase (J(2)/J(1)>0.5), using the pure-quantum self-consistent harmonic approximation. Our results show the persistence of a finite-temperature Ising phase transition for every value of the spin, provided that the ratio J(2)/J(1) is greater than a critical value corresponding to the onset of collinear long-range order at zero temperature. We also calculate the spin and temperature dependence of the collinear susceptibility and correlation length, and we discuss our results in light of the experiments on Li2VOSiO4 and related compounds.     

Effective Hamiltonians for holes in antiferromagnets: a new approach to implement forbidden double occupancy

A coherent state representation for the electrons of ordered antiferromagnets is used to derive effective Hamiltonians for the dynamics of holes in such systems. By an appropriate choice of these states, the constraint of forbidden double occupancy can be implemented rigorously. Using these coherent states, one arrives at a path integral representation of the partition function of the systems, from which the effective Hamiltonians can be read off. We apply this method to the t-J model on the square lattice and on the triangular lattice. In the former case, we reproduce the well-known fermion-boson Hamiltonian for a hole in a collinear antiferromagnet. We demonstrate that our method also works for non-collinear antiferromagnets by calculating the spectrum of a hole in the triangular antiferromagnet in the self-consistent Born approximation and by comparing it with numerically exact results. Received: 23 December 1997 / Accepted: 17 March 1998     

Uniaxially anisotropic antiferromagnets in a field on a square lattice

Classical uniaxially anisotropic Heisenberg and XY antiferromagnets in a field along the easy axis on a square lattice are analysed, applying ground state considerations and Monte Carlo techniques. The models are known to display antiferromagnetic and spin-flop phases. In the Heisenberg case, a single-ion anisotropy is added to the XXZ antiferromagnet, enhancing or competing with the uniaxial exchange anisotropy. Its effect on the stability of non-collinear structures of biconical type is studied. In the case of the anisotropic XY antiferromagnet, the transition region between the antiferromagnetic and spin-flop phases is found to be dominated by degenerate bidirectional fluctuations. The phase diagram is observed to resemble closely that of the XXZ antiferromagnet without single-ion anisotropy.     

Potential signature of a Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in BaNi2V2O8

ESR measurements are reported for the quasi-two-dimensional honeycomb antiferromagnet BaNi2V2O8. Planar anisotropic properties are confirmed by angular dependent investigations of resonance field and linewidth. The divergence of the temperature-dependent linewidth on approaching T(N) from above is described in terms of the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, the critical behavior close to long-range magnetic order, and the 2D Heisenberg antiferromagnet. We provide arguments that the Kosterlitz-Thouless scenario is compatible with the observed critical exponent and suggest BaNi2V2O8 is a weakly anisotropic 2D Heisenberg antiferromagnet.     

Field dependent specific heat and longitudinal magnetization of the quantum magnet layer Cs2CuCl4: Anisotropy effects

We have addressed the specific heat and magnetization of an anisotropic spin-1/2 triangular Heisenberg antiferromagnet Cs₂CuCl₄ in the presence of magnetic field at finite temperature. We have investigated the behavior of thermodynamic properties by means of excitation spectrum in terms of a hard core bosonic representation. The effect of in-plane anisotropy on thermodynamic properties has also been studied via the bosonic model by Green’s function approach. This anisotropy is considered for exchange constants that couple spin components perpendicular to magnetic field direction. We have found the temperature dependence of the specific heat and longitudinal magnetization in the gapped field induced spin-polarized phase for various magnetic fields and anisotropy parameters. Furthermore we have studied the magnetic field dependence of specific heat and magnetization for various anisotropy parameters. Our results show temperature dependence of specific heat includes a peak so that its temperature position goes to higher temperature with increase of magnetic field. We have found the magnetic field dependence of specific heat shows a monotonic decreasing behavior for various magnetic fields due to increase of energy gap in the excitation spectrum.     

Effects of selective dilution on phase diagram and ground-state magnetizations of an Ising antiferromagnet on triangular and honeycomb lattices

We employ an effective-field theory with correlations in order to study the phase diagram and ground-state magnetizations of a selectively diluted Ising antiferromagnet on triangular and honeycomb lattices. Dilution of different sublattices with generally unequal probabilities results in a rather intricate phase diagram in the sublattice dilution parameters space. In the case of the frustrated triangular lattice antiferromagnet the selective dilution affects the degree of frustration which can lead to some peculiar phenomena, such as reentrant behavior of long-range order or unsaturated sublattice magnetizations at zero temperature. The selectively diluted Ising antiferromagnet on the honeycomb lattice is obtained as a special case when one sublattice of the triangular lattice is completely removed by dilution.     

Incommensurate magnetic structures in rhombohedral Heisenberg antiferromagnet

The phase diagram of the ground state has been calculated for a rhombohedral antiferromagnet of the R3m symmetry with frustrated exchange in the base plane and competition of exchanges between the nearest and next-nearest planes. The diagram contains phases of collinear antiferromagnetic ordering of various types separated by five incommensurate magnetic states of the helicoidal type, differing in the ordering type and in the direction of the modulation vector. The commensurate and incommensurate phases converge at multi-critical points lying on a line corresponding to an antiferromagnet with an undistorted simple cubic lattice.     

Critical and multicritical behavior in the Ising–Heisenberg universality class

Critical behavior of three-dimensional classical frustrated antiferromagnets with a collinear spin ordering and with an additional twofold degeneracy of the ground state is studied. We consider two lattice models, whose continuous limit describes a single phase transition with a symmetry class differing from the class of non-frustrated magnets as well as from the classes of magnets with non-collinear spin ordering. A symmetry breaking is described by a pair of independent order parameters, which are similar to order parameters of the Ising and O(N) models correspondingly. Using the renormalization group method, it is shown that a transition is of first order for non-Ising spins. For Ising spins, a second order phase transition from the universality class of the O(2) model may be observed. The lattice models are considered by Monte Carlo simulations based on the Wang–Landau algorithm. The models are a ferromagnet on a body-centered cubic lattice with the additional antiferromagnetic exchange interaction between next-nearest-neighbor spins and an antiferromagnet on a simple cubic lattice with the additional interaction in layers. We consider the cases N = 1, 2, 3 and in all of them find a first-order transition. For the N = 1 case we exclude possibilities of the second order or pseudo-first order of a transition. An almost second order transition for large N is also discussed.     

Tuning Exchange Anisotropy of Exchange-Biased System

Exchange anisotropy in FM/AFM bilayers has given a lot of static magnetization properties such as enhanced coercivity and magnetization loop shifts. These phenomena are primarily from the effective anisotropies introduced into a ferromagnet by exchange coupling with a strongly anisotropic antiferromagnet. These effective anisotropies can also be used to explain the dynamic consequences of exchange-biased bilayers. In this article, the dynamic consequences such as exchange-induced susceptibility, exchange-induced permeability, and the corresponding domain wall characteristics in the exchange-biased structures of ferromagnet/antiferromagnet1/antiferromagnet2 are studied. The results show that the second antiferromagnetic layer can largely affect the dynamic consequences of exchange-biased bilayers. Especially in the case of critical temperature, the effects become more obvious. Practically, the exchange anisotropy of biased bilayer system can be tuned by exchange coupling with the second antiferromagnetic layer.     

Direct measurement of the spin Hamiltonian and observation of condensation of magnons in the 2D frustrated quantum magnet Cs2CuCl4

We propose a method for measuring spin Hamiltonians and apply it to the spin- 1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet Cs2CuCl4, which shows a 2D fractionalized resonating valence bond state at low fields. By applying strong fields we fully align the spin moment of Cs2CuCl4, transforming it into an effective ferromagnet. In this phase the excitations are conventional magnons and their dispersion relation measured using neutron scattering give the exchange couplings directly, which are found to form an anisotropic triangular lattice with small Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya terms. Using the field to control the excitations we observe Bose condensation of magnons into an ordered ground state.     

Magnetic order and spin dynamics in ferroelectric HoMnO3

Hexagonal HoMnO3 is a frustrated antiferromagnet (T(N)=72 K) ferroelectric (T(C)=875 K) in which these two order parameters are coupled. Our neutron measurements of the spin-wave dispersion for the S=2 Mn3+ on the layered triangular lattice are well described by a two-dimensional nearest-neighbor Heisenberg exchange J=2.44 meV, and an anisotropy D that is 0.28 meV above the spin-reorientation transition at 40 K and 0.38 meV below. For H parallel c the magnetic structures and phase diagram have been determined, and reveal additional transitions below 8 K where the ferroelectrically displaced Ho3+ ions are ordered magnetically.     

Field-induced disorder in a gapped spin system with nonmagnetic impurities

We study the combined effect of doping and an external magnetic field on S = 1/2 dimers which are weakly coupled by three-dimensional antiferromagnetic interactions J'. We show that application of an external magnetic field H opposes the long-range Ne el order which is known to result from doping with nonmagnetic impurities and drives the system back to the disordered phase if 3D interactions J' are not too large. We discuss the zero temperature phase diagram in the (H,J') plane and suggest that the reentrant behavior can be experimentally observed.     

Competing magnetic phases on a kagomé staircase

We present thermodynamic and neutron data on Ni3V2O8, a spin-1 system on a kagomé staircase. The extreme degeneracy of the kagomé antiferromagnet is lifted to produce two incommensurate phases at finite T--one amplitude modulated, the other helical--plus a commensurate canted antiferromagnet for T-->0. The H-T phase diagram is described by a model of competing first and second neighbor interactions with smaller anisotropic terms. Ni3V2O8 thus provides an elegant example of order from subleading interactions in a highly frustrated system.     

Nuclear magnetic resonance of 55Mn in the antiferromagnet CsMnBr3 in a variable longitudinal magnetic field

The spectrum and intensities of NMR lines are investigated experimentally and theoretically for excitation by an alternating magnetic field h‖ parallel to a static field H in the quasi-one-dimensional, six-sublattice antiferromagnet CsMnBr₃. According to theory, two new NMR lines, which are not excited by a transverse magnetic field h _⊥, are observed near the phase transition from triangular to collinear structure (H=H _c ) [JETP 86, 197 (1998)]. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 2228–2241 (June 1999)     

Symmetry driven irreversibilities at ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic interfaces

The coupling between a ferromagnet and an antiferromagnet can establish a directional anisotropy called exchange bias. In many systems this exchange bias is reduced upon subsequent field cycling, which is referred to as training effects. Numerical simulations of a simple coherent rotation model suggest that the symmetry of the anisotropy in the antiferromagnet is crucial for the understanding of training effects in exchange bias systems. Namely, the existence of multiple antiferromagnetic easy anisotropy axes can initially stabilize a noncollinear arrangement of the antiferromagnetic spins, which relaxes into a collinear arrangement after the first magnetization reversal of the ferromagnet.