arXiv:1103.1792 · Physical Review B
Incommensurate spin Luttinger liquid phase in a model for the spin-Peierls materials TiOBr and TiOCl
Diego Mastrogiuseppe, C. J. Gazza, A. Dobry
Abstract
In the present work we aim to characterize the lattice configurations and the magnetic behavior in the incommensurate phase of spin-Peierls systems. This phase emerges when the magnetic exchange interaction is coupled to the distortions of an underlying triangular lattice and has its experimental realization in the quasi-one-dimensional compound family TiO$X$ ($X=\text{Cl}$, Br). With a simple model of spin-$1/2$ chains inserted in a planar triangular geometry which couples them elastically, we are able to obtain the uniform-incommensurate and incommensurate-dimerized phase transitions seen in these compounds. Moreover, we follow the evolution of the wave vector of the distortions with temperature inside the incommensurate phase. Finally, we predict gapless spin excitations for the intermediate phase of TiO$X$ compounds along with incommensurate spin-spin correlations, offering to experimentalists a candidate to observe an exotic Luttinger liquidlike behavior.