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Physical review. B, Condensed matter

Raman study of one-dimensional spin fluctuations in the spin-1 Heisenberg-chain compound Y2 BaNiO5 : Contrast with simple expectations

P. E. Sulewski, S‐W. Cheong

Published Feb 1, 1995• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Spin fluctuations in the Haldane ground state should exhibit a quantum spin gap observable with Raman scattering. The Raman spectra of single-crystalline ${\mathrm{Y}}_{2}$${\mathrm{BaNiO}}_{5}$, a linear spin-1 Heisenberg antiferromagnet, exhibit broad continuum scattering between \ensuremath{\sim}200 and \ensuremath{\sim}800 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$, in the energy range expected for magnetic excitations (\ensuremath{\sim}J=224 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$). Numerous weak and broad features superimposed on this continuum scattering possibly result from quantization of the magnon continuum by local molecular fields from nearby chains. A strong and relatively narrow mode at \ensuremath{\sim}680 ${\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}$, near 3J, unrelated to lattice vibrations, may also be of magnetic origin. All of these features are strongly resonant in the red (${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathit{L}}$=6328 \AA{}), disappearing for shorter excitation wavelengths. These spectra provide a view of the Haldane spin system excitations complementary to that given by inelastic neutron scattering. Modeling the excitations with Schwinger bosons or spin waves predicts a highly asymmetric scattering feature with a sharp onset near 2\ensuremath{\Delta}(\ensuremath{\sim}0.8J), gradually diminishing toward higher energies. The observed spectra disagree with this theoretical expectation, perhaps due to spin-phonon coupling which may provide an efficient decay channel for the magnon pairs.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.51.3021

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Spin fluctuations in the Haldane ground state should exhibit a quantum spin gap observable with Raman scattering. The Raman spectra of single-crystalline {\mathrm{Y}}_{2}$${\mathrm{BaNiO}}_{5}, a linear spin-1 Heisenberg antiferromagnet, exhibit broad continuum scattering between \ensuremath{\sim}200 and \ensuremath{\sim}800 cm\ensuremath−1{\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}cm\ensuremath−1, in the energy range expected for magnetic excitations (\ensuremath{\sim}J=224 cm\ensuremath−1{\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}cm\ensuremath−1). Numerous weak and broad features superimposed on this continuum scattering possibly result from quantization of the magnon continuum by local molecular fields from nearby chains. A strong and relatively narrow mode at \ensuremath{\sim}680 cm\ensuremath−1{\mathrm{cm}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}1}cm\ensuremath−1, near 3J, unrelated to lattice vibrations, may also be of magnetic origin. All of these features are strongly resonant in the red (\ensuremathλL{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{\mathit{L}}\ensuremathλL​=6328 \AA{}), disappearing for shorter excitation wavelengths. These spectra provide a view of the Haldane spin system excitations complementary to that given by inelastic neutron scattering. Modeling the excitations with Schwinger bosons or spin waves predicts a highly asymmetric scattering feature with a sharp onset near 2\ensuremath{\Delta}(\ensuremath{\sim}0.8J), gradually diminishing toward higher energies. The observed spectra disagree with this theoretical expectation, perhaps due to spin-phonon coupling which may provide an efficient decay channel for the magnon pairs.
The spin-excitation continuum, expected to dominate the low-energy fluctuation spectrum in the Haldane spin chain around the Brillouin zone center, q=0q\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}0q=0, is directly observed by inelastic magnetic neutron scattering in the S=1S\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}1S=1 quasi-1D antiferromagnet CsNiCl3{\mathrm{CsNiCl}}_{3}CsNiCl3​. We find that the single mode approximation fails, and that a finite energy width appears in the dynamic correlation function $S(q,\ensuremath{\omega})$ for $q\ensuremath{\lesssim}0.5\ensuremath{\pi}$. The width increases with decreasing qqq, while $S(q,\ensuremath{\omega})$ acquires an asymmetric shape qualitatively similar to that predicted for the two-magnon continuum in the nonlinear $\ensuremath{\sigma}$-model.
We report an inelastic-neutron-scattering experiment on single crystals of the one-dimensional spin-one antiferromagnet Y2{\mathrm{Y}}_{2}Y2​BaNiO5{\mathrm{O}}_{5}O5​. The data show that this compound is a nearly ideal material for studying the Haldane conjecture in the Heisenberg limit. In particular, the Haldane gap at $\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{q}=\ensuremath{\pi}$ is almost isotropic, taking on the values of 7.5(1), 8.6(1), and 9.6(1) meV for polarizations parallel to the three principal orthorhombic axes respectively. Interchain coupling along the edges of the orthorhombic unit cell is found to be very weak ($\frac{{J}^{\ensuremath{'}}}{J}<~5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$). Finally, we show that defects in our sample at the 1% level cause visible broadening of the excitation at $\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{q}=\ensuremath{\pi}$.
The spectral properties, and associated critical singularities, of spin-1 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chains are of high current interest, both theoretical and experimental. Theoretical studies using the single mode approximation and also a Monte Carlo calculation indicate that the spectrum has a gap at k=π, as predicted by Haldane. They also predict the unusual feature that the excited state continuum is asymmetric about the mid-point of the Brillouin zone, k=π/2. However, neither approach is sufficiently accurate to predict reliably the magnitude of the gap at k=0 which was not discussed by Haldane. Our approach is to use static (spectral) calculations of excited states of chains of N=4 through 14 spins for all values of k, a novel feature not associated with previous finite-size calculations, to discuss the dispersion spectra of the S=1 Heisenberg chain. In addition, we have calculated dynamical properties, in particular S(q,ω), exactly for finite chains up to N=14 spins. This allows us to estimate the gap at k=0 to good accuracy, and we find that to within this accuracy the gap at k=0 is twice the Haldane gap at k=π. This result is important in connection with very recent neutron scattering and magnetization measurements. In addition, we have calculated the correlation length and critical singularities associated with dynamical quantities.
Inelastic neutron scattering was used to probe edge states in a quantum spin liquid. The experiment was performed on finite length antiferromagnetic spin-1 chains in ${\mathrm{Y}}_{2}{\mathrm{B}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{N}\mathrm{i}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{M}\mathrm{g}}_{x}{\mathrm{O}}_{5}$. At finite fields, there is a Zeeman resonance below the Haldane gap. The wave-vector dependence of its intensity provides direct evidence for staggered magnetization at chain ends, which decays exponentially towards the bulk [$\ensuremath{\xi}=8(1)$ at T=0.1 KT=0.1\text{ }\mathrm{K}T=0.1 K]. Continuum contributions to the chain-end spectrum indicate interchain segment interactions. We also observe a finite size blueshift of the Haldane gap.
Many phenomena in magnetism can be described using classical models, yet magnetism is a quantum mechanical effect. In addition to thermal fluctuations, quantum fluctuations arise due to the quantum uncertainty of the ground state. These fluctuations are enhanced by low dimensionality and low spin. Spin chains show interesting excitations associated with quasiparticles. Model materials for spin chains can be realized in compounds where the interchain interactions are weak enough. This thesis presents neutron scattering studies of two model materials for spin chains with different spin symmetry. The spin2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain CuSO4*5D2O has a main exchange of J ∼ 3 K, which permits to study its excitation spectrum up to temperatures of ten times the exchange. The spin2 Heisenberg magnet has been studied widely both theoretically and experimentally. The excitation spectrum of the spin2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet consists of quasiparticles called spinons, and calculations for it exist for T = 0 and as a function of temperature. A quantitative comparison between experimental data and theoretical models across a range of temperatures is presented. The excitation spectrum of CuSO4*5D2O is excellently described by the excitation spectrum of a spin2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain at finite temperatures. Energy-temperature scaling is observed at temperatures up to 2J . For these temperatures the Luttinger liquid description of the spin2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic chain is valid. A spinon continuum is confirmed at all measured temperatures. Therefore, even at ten times the main exchange (T ≈ 10 J), CuSO4*5D2O shows the behavior of a quantum magnet, and not of a classical system at infinite temperatures, for which one would expect single spin flips. The Ising chain is one of the most studied models in magnetism, one model compound for it is RbCoCl3. Optical spectroscopy measurements suggest a lower gap than for similar compounds, which makes it better suited for high resolution neutron spectroscopy. Magnetic correlations along the chains arise in RbCoCl3 below 80 K. A gapped continuum is observed, which arises from isolated antiferromagnetic Ising chains. Below the first magnetic ordering temperature TN1 ≈ 28 K bound states are observed, which arise due to correlations which form between the chains. Strong diffuse scattering leads to the conclusion that disorder is still present. At the second magnetic ordering transition, at TN2 ≈ 14 K, the bound states split as the correlations between the chains change. Fits indicate that the correlations change continuously as a function of temperature. Above TN2 the excitation spectrum of RbCoCl3 can be described by a spin1 2 Ising chain with an XY-component which is treated as a perturbation. Below TN2 the main features are reproduced correctly, but deviations from the details indicate that additional terms in the Hamiltonian may be necessary. This thesis was carried out at the Institut Laue-Langevin, the Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging at the Paul Scherrer Institute and ETH Zurich.
The antiferromagnetic spin-one chain is considerably one of the most fundamental quantum many-body systems, with symmetry-protected topological order in the ground state. Here, we present results for its dynamical spin structure factor at finite temperatures, based on a combination of exact numerical diagonalization, matrix-product-state calculations, and quantum Monte Carlo simulations. Open finite chains exhibit a subgap band in the thermal spectral functions, indicative of localized edge states. Moreover, we observe the thermal activation of a distinct low-energy continuum contribution to the spin spectral function with an enhanced spectral weight at low momenta and its upper threshold. This emerging thermal spectral feature of the Haldane spin-one chain is shown to result from intraband magnon scattering due to the thermal population of the single-magnon branch, which features a large bandwidth-to-gap ratio. These findings are discussed with respect to possible future studies on spin-one chain compounds based on inelastic neutron scattering.