No Arabic abstract
We present an investigation of the effect of randomizing exchange strengths in the $S=1/2$ square lattice quasi-two-dimensional quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet (QuinH)$_2$Cu(Cl$_{x}$Br$_{1-x}$)$_{4}cdot$2H$_2$O (QuinH$=$Quinolinium, C$_9$H$_8$N$^+$), with $0leq x leq 1$. Pulsed-field magnetization measurements allow us to estimate an effective in-plane exchange strength $J$ in a regime where exchange fosters short-range order, while the temperature $T_{mathrm{N}}$ at which long range order (LRO) occurs is found using muon-spin relaxation, allowing us to construct a phase diagram for the series. We evaluate the effectiveness of disorder in suppressing $T_{mathrm{N}}$ and the ordered moment size and find an extended disordered phase in the region $0.4 lesssim x lesssim 0.8$ where no magnetic order occurs, driven by quantum effects of the exchange randomness.
We successfully synthesize single crystals of the verdazyl radical $alpha$-2,3,5-Cl$_3$-V. $Ab$ $initio$ molecular orbital calculations indicate that the two dominant antiferromagnetic interactions, $J_{rm{1}}$ and $J_{rm{2}}$ ($alpha =J_{rm{2}}/J_{rm{1}}simeq 0.56$), form an $S$ = 1/2 distorted square lattice. We explain the magnetic properties based on the $S$ = 1/2 square lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet using the quantum Monte Carlo method, and examine the effects of the lattice distortion and the interplane interaction contribution. In the low-temperature regions below 6.4 K, we observe anisotropic magnetic behavior accompanied by a phase transition to a magnetically ordered state. The electron spin resonance signals exhibit anisotropic behavior in the temperature dependence of the resonance field and the linewidth. We explain the frequency dependence of the resonance fields in the ordered phase using a mean-field approximation with out-of-plane easy-axis anisotropy, which causes a spin-flop phase transition at approximately 0.4 T for the field perpendicular to the plane. Furthermore, the anisotropic dipole field provides supporting information regarding the presence of the easy-axis anisotropy. These results demonstrate that the lattice distortion, anisotropy, and interplane interaction of this model are sufficiently small that they do not affect the intrinsic behavior of the $S$ = 1 / 2 square lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet.
Frustrated magnetic interactions in a quasi-two-dimensional [111] slab of pyrochlore lattice were studied. For uniform nearest neighbor (NN) interactions, we show that the complex magnetic problem can be mapped onto a model with two independent degrees of freedom, tri-color and binary sign. This provides a systematic way to construct the complex classical spin ground states with collinear and coplanar bi-pyramid spins. We also identify `partial but extended zero-energy excitations amongst the ground states. For nonuniform NN interactions, the coplanar ground state can be obtained from the collinear bi-pyramid spin state by collectively rotating two spins of each tetrahedron with an angle, $alpha$, in an opposite direction. The latter model with $alpha sim 30^circ$ fits the experimental neutron data from SCGO well.
Spontaneous symmetry breaking is deeply related to dimensionality of system. The Neel order going with spontaneous breaking of $U(1)$ symmetry is safely allowed at any temperature for three-dimensional systems but allowed only at zero temperature for purely two-dimensional systems. We closely investigate how smoothly the ordering process of the three-dimensional system is modulated into that of the two-dimensional one with reduction of dimensionality, considering spatially anisotropic quantum antiferromagnets. We first show that the Neel temperature is kept finite even in the two-dimensional limit although the Neel order is greatly suppressed for low-dimensionality. This feature of the Neel temperature is highly nontrivial, which dictates how the order parameter is squashed under the reduction of dimensionality. Next we investigate this dimensional modulation of the order parameter. We develop our argument taking as example a coupled spin-ladder system relevant for experimental studies. The ordering process is investigated multidirectionally using theoretical techniques of a mean-field method combined with analytical (exact solutions of quantum field theories) or numerial (density-matrix renormalization-group) method, a variational method, a renormalization-group study, linear spin-wave theory, and quantum Monte-Carlo simulation. We show that these methods independent of each other lead to the same conclusion about the dimensional modulation.
A Green-function theory for the dynamic spin susceptibility in the square-lattice spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic compass-Heisenberg model employing a generalized mean-field approximation is presented. The theory describes magnetic long-range order (LRO) and short-range order (SRO) at arbitrary temperatures. The magnetization, Neel temperature T_N, specific heat, and uniform static spin susceptibility $chi$ are calculated self-consistently. As the main result, we obtain LRO at finite temperatures in two dimensions, where the dependence of T_N on the compass-model interaction is studied. We find that T_N is close to the experimental value for Ba2IrO4. The effects of SRO are discussed in relation to the temperature dependence of $chi$.
The study of randomness in low-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets is at the forefront of research in the field of strongly correlated electron systems, yet there have been relatively few experimental model systems. Complementary neutron scattering and numerical experiments demonstrate that the spin-diluted Heisenberg antiferromagnet La2Cu(1-z)(Zn,Mg)zO4 is an excellent model material for square-lattice site percolation in the extreme quantum limit of spin one-half. Measurements of the ordered moment and spin correlations provide important quantitative information for tests of theories for this complex quantum-impurity problem.