No Arabic abstract
Magnetism arising from coupled spin and spatial degrees of freedom underlies the properties of a broad array of physical systems. We study here the interplay between correlations in spin and space for the quantum compass model in a finite external field, using quantum Monte Carlo methods. We find that finite temperatures cant the spin and space (bond) correlations, with increasing temperature even reorienting spin correlations between orthogonal spatial directions. We develop a coupled mean field theory to understand this effect in terms of the underlying quantum critical properties of crossed Ising chains in transverse fields and an effective field that weakens upon increasing temperature. Thermal canting offers an experimental signature of spin-bond anisotropy.
The spin-$1/2$ chain with antiferromagnetic exchange $J_1$ and $J_2 = alpha J_1$ between first and second neighbors, respectively, has both gapless and gapped ($Delta(alpha) > 0$) quantum phases at frustration $0 le alpha le 3/4$. The ground state instability of regular ($delta = 0$) chains to dimerization ($delta > 0$) drives a spin-Peierls transition at $T_{SP}(alpha)$ that varies with $alpha$ in these strongly correlated systems. The thermodynamic limit of correlated states is obtained by exact treatment of short chains followed by density matrix renormalization calculations of progressively longer chains. The doubly degenerate ground states of the gapped regular phase are bond order waves (BOWs) with long-range bond-bond correlations and electronic dimerization $delta_e(alpha)$. The $T$ dependence of $delta_e(T,alpha)$ is found using four-spin correlation functions and contrasted to structural dimerization $delta(T,alpha)$ at $T le T_{SP}(alpha)$. The relation between $T_{SP}(alpha)$ and the $T = 0$ gap $Delta(delta(0),alpha)$ varies with frustration in both gapless and gapped phases. The magnetic susceptibility $chi(T,alpha)$ at $T > T_{SP}$ can be used to identify physical realizations of spin-Peierls systems. The $alpha = 1/2$ chain illustrates the characteristic BOW features of a regular chain with a large singlet-triplet gap and electronic dimerization.
Spin-reorientation phase transitions that involve the rotation of a crystal$$s magnetization have been well characterized in distorted-perovskite oxides such as the orthoferrites. In these systems spin reorientation occurs due to competing rare-earth and transition metal anisotropies coupled via $f$-$d$ exchange. Here, we demonstrate an alternative paradigm for spin reorientation in distorted perovskites. We show that the $R_2mathrm{CuMnMn_4O_{12}}$ (R = Y or Dy) triple A-site columnar-ordered quadruple perovskites have three ordered magnetic phases and up to two spin-reorientation phase transitions. Unlike the spin-reorientation phenomena in other distorted perovskites, these transitions are independent of rare-earth magnetism, but are instead driven by an instability towards antiferromagnetic spin canting likely originating in frustrated Heisenberg exchange interactions, and the competition between Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya and single-ion anisotropies.
In cuprate superconductors, superconductivity appears below the CDW transition temperature $T_{CDW}$. However, many-body electronic states under the CDW order are still far from understood. Here, we study the development of the spin fluctuations under the presence of $d$-wave bond order (BO) with wavevector $q=(pi/2,0),(0,pi/2)$, which is derived from the paramagnon interference mechanism in recent theoretical studies. Based on the $4 times 1$ and $4 times 4$ cluster Hubbard models, the feedback effects between spin susceptibility and self-energy are calculated self-consistently by using the fluctuation-exchange (FLEX) approximation. It is found that the $d$-wave BO leads to a sizable suppression of the nuclear magnetic relaxation rate $1/T_1$. In contrast, the reduction in $T_c$ is small, since the static susceptibility $chi^s(Q_s)$ is affected by the BO just slightly. It is verified that the $d$-wave BO scenario is consistent with the experimental electronic properties below $T_{CDW}$.
The Cu spin magnetism in La2-x-yEuySrxCuO4 (x<=0.17; y<=0.2) has been studied by means of magnetization measurements up to 14 T. Our results clearly show that in the antiferromagnetic phase Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya (DM)superexchange causes Cu spin canting not only in the LTO phase but also in the LTLO and LTT phases. In La1.8Eu0.2CuO4 the canted DM-moment is about 50% larger than in pure La2CuO4 which we attribute to the larger octahedral tilt angle. We also find clear evidence that the size of the DM-moment does not change significantly at the structural transition at T_LT from LTO to LTLO and LTT. The most important change induced by the transition is a significant reduction of the magnetic coupling between the CuO2 planes. As a consequence, the spin-flip transition of the canted Cu spins which is observed in the LTO phase for magnetic field perpendicular to the CuO2 planes disappears in the LTT phase. The shape of the magnetization curves changes from the well known spin-flip type to a weak-ferromagnet type. However, no spontaneous weak ferromagnetism is observed even at very low temperatures, which seems to indicate that the interlayer decoupling in our samples is not perfect. Nonetheless, a small fraction (<15%) of the DM-moments can be remanently magnetized throughout the entire antiferromagnetically ordered LTT/LTLO phase, i.e. for T<T_LT and x<0.02. It appears that the remanent DM-moment is perpendicular to the CuO2 planes. For magnetic field parallel to the CuO2 planes we find that the critical field of the spin-flop transition decreases in the LTLO phase, which might indicate a competition between different in-plane anisotropies. To study the Cu spin magnetism in La2-x-yEuySrxCuO4, a careful analysis of the Van Vleck paramagnetism of the Eu3+ ions was performed.
In Mott insulators the evolution of antiferromagnetic order to superconducting or charge-density-wave-like states upon chemical doping underpins the control of quantum phases. Photo-doping can induce similar transitions on the ultrafast timescale, however the response of the spin system has remained elusive. Here, we use 4D-ultrafast optical spectroscopy to extract quantitative magnetic dynamics in the spin-orbit coupled Mott insulator Sr3Ir2O7. We demonstrate that light can non-thermally melt long-range spin order. At low fluences magnetic order recovers within 1 ps despite demagnetization of roughly 50%. However, high fluences induce a crossover to a long-lived demagnetized state without increasing the lattice temperature. We show that the generation of photo-induced spin defects enables a mechanism that stabilizes the demagnetized state which could help expose new transient phases.