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arXiv:cond-mat/0404674 · Physical Review B

Weak antiferromagnetism and dimer order in quantum systems of coupled tetrahedra

Valeri N. Kotov, Michael E. Zhitomirsky, Maged Elhajal, Frédéric Mila

Published Dec 2, 2004• 26 citations
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Abstract

We analyze the phases of an $S=1∕2$ spin model on a lattice of coupled tetrahedra. The presence of both Heisenberg and antisymmetric, Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interactions can lead to two types of symmetry-broken states: nonmagnetic dimer order and, unexpectedly, exotic four-sublattice weak antiferromagnetic order---a state with a generically small ordered moment and nonzero chirality. The external magnetic field also induces weak antiferromagnetism coexisting with strong dimer correlations in the ground state. These states are formed as a result of broken Ising symmetries and exhibit a number of unusual properties.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.70.214401

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We analyze the phases of an S=1∕2S=1∕2S=1∕2 spin model on a lattice of coupled tetrahedra. The presence of both Heisenberg and antisymmetric, Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interactions can lead to two types of symmetry-broken states: nonmagnetic dimer order and, unexpectedly, exotic four-sublattice weak antiferromagnetic order---a state with a generically small ordered moment and nonzero chirality. The external magnetic field also induces weak antiferromagnetism coexisting with strong dimer correlations in the ground state. These states are formed as a result of broken Ising symmetries and exhibit a number of unusual properties.
Several exactly solvable quantum spin models with incommensurate magnetic structures, which manifest quantum phase transitions between incommensurate and commensurate phases, are proposed. The ground-state and thermodynamic characteristics of these quantum spin antiferromagnetic models with the Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya antisymmetric exchange interaction and spin-frustrating next-nearest-neighbor, three-spin, and four-spin (ring exchange) interactions are exactly studied. We investigated the ground state phases of the considered models, as function of the magnetic anisotropy, Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction, next-nearest-neighbor coupling constants, and external magnetic field. Several quantum phase transitions between magnetically incommensurate phases and between incommensurate and ferromagnetic phases are predicted, and the behavior of thermodynamic characteristics of those models at phase transitions is studied. We have shown that for models with chiral three-spin interactions the Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya coupling yields the onset of the weak ferromagnetism, similar to three-dimensional ordered antiferromagnets, but not present in other quantum spin chains with the antisymmetric exchange. Considered models appeared to be important for several quasi-one-dimensional spin systems, studied in recent experiments.
We explore several classes of quadrupolar ordering in a system of antiferromagnetically coupled quantum spin-1 dimers, which are stacked in the triangular lattice geometry forming a bilayer. Low-energy properties of this model are described by an S=1\mathcal{S}=1S=1 hard-core bosonic degrees of freedom defined on each dimer bond, where the singlet and triplet states of the dimerized spins are interpreted as the vacuum and the occupancy of boson, respectively. The number of bosons per dimer and the magnetic and density fluctuations of bosons are controlled by the interdimer Heisenberg interactions. In a solid phase where each dimer hosts one boson and the interdimer interaction is weak, a conventional spin nematic phase is realized by the pair fluctuation of bosons. Larger interdimer interaction favors Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) carrying quadrupolar moments. Among them, we find one exotic phase where the quadrupoles develop a spatially modulated structure on the top of a uniform BEC, interpreted in the original dimerized spin-1 model as coexistent ppp-type nematic and ${120}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ magnetic correlations. This may explain an intriguing nonmagnetic phase found in Ba3ZnRu2O9{\mathrm{Ba}}_{3}{\mathrm{ZnRu}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{9}Ba3​ZnRu2​O9​.
The ground-state phase diagram of a spin-12\frac{1}{2}21​ XXZ chain with competing ferromagnetic nearest-neighbor (J1<0{J}_{1}<0J1​<0) and antiferromagnetic second-neighbor (J2>0{J}_{2}>0J2​>0) exchange couplings is studied by means of the infinite time evolving block decimation algorithm and effective field theories. For the SU(2)-symmetric (Heisenberg) case, we show that the nonmagnetic phase in the range $\ensuremath{-}4<{J}_{1}/{J}_{2}<0$ has a small but finite ferromagnetic dimer order. We argue that this spontaneous dimer order is associated with effective spin-1 degrees of freedom on dimerized bonds, which collectively form a valence bond solid state as in the spin-1 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain (the Haldane spin chain). We thus call this phase the Haldane dimer phase. With easy-plane anisotropy, the model exhibits a variety of phases including the vector chiral phase with gapless excitations and the even-parity dimer and N\'eel phases with gapped excitations, in addition to the Haldane dimer phase. Furthermore, we show the existence of gapped phases with coexisting orders in narrow regions that intervene between the gapless chiral phase and any one of Haldane dimer, even-parity dimer, and N\'eel phases. Possible implications for quasi-one-dimensional edge-sharing cuprates are discussed.
The quantum phase transition induced by an external magnetic field in a dimerized spin crystal from its singlet ground state to an antiferromagnetic ordered state is examined under the assumption that the exchange interaction is antiferromagnetic, both within dimers and between them. It is shown that during this transition the magnetic polarization of the ions within a dimer and, therefore, of the dimers as a whole, is critical. The orientations and projections of the spin vectors in the magnetically ordered phase depend on the applied magnetic field, while the magnetic susceptibility of this essentially quantum phase remains (similarly to the case of a classical Neel antiferromagnet) constant as the spins of the magnetic sublattices undergo reorientation.
We study frustrated spin-1/2 dimer systems in two dimensions with a bilayer structure, where spins are ferromagnetically coupled in dimers. Our model includes frustrated two-spin exchange interactions as well as four-spin interactions. We pay particular attention to the spin nematic phase, which does not exhibit any magnetic (spin-dipole) order but has a spin-quadrupolar long-range order. Employing a perturbation calculation, a mean-field approximation, and a numerical many-variable variational Monte Carlo method, we determine ground-state phase diagrams on various two-dimensional lattices. It is found that the model exhibits the spin nematic phase with ferroquadrupolar order in a wide parameter region, in addition to conventional magnetically ordered phases. In particular, it is shown that even when the four-spin interactions are absent, frustrated two-spin exchange interactions can realize the spin nematic phase as a result of strong interdimer correlations. It is also found that the phase transitions between the spin nematic phase and antiferromagnetic phases can be continuous. Furthermore, we present some exact arguments that various phases including the spin nematic phase and the vector chiral (p-type nematic) phase emerge from an SU(4) symmetric point in the model by the addition of appropriate perturbative interactions. The spin nematic phase generated from the SU(4) point is connected with the spin nematic phase found numerically in the system with only two-spin interactions.