Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:cond-mat/9608100 · Physical review. B, Condensed matter

Spin ladders with nonmagnetic impurities

H.-J. Mikeska, U. Neugebauer, Ulrich Schollwöck

Published Feb 1, 1997• 39 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We investigate antiferromagnetic spin ladders with nonmagnetic impurities by variational and numerical [Lanczos and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG)] methods. The interaction between the two unpaired spins opposite to the impurities is described by an effective exchange interaction ${\mathrm{J}}_{\mathrm{eff}}$, the magnitude of which depends on the impurity distance. The magnitude of ${\mathrm{J}}_{\mathrm{eff}}$ is different for unpaired spins at the edges of an open ladder and in the bulk. This difference is related to the different distributions of the unpaired spin into the bulk of the ladder. The numerical results are interpreted using matrix product states. Using the DMRG we calculate the spectrum of low-lying energy levels for up to six impurities and find that these spectra can be reproduced assuming pair interactions with an accuracy of better than 10%. We discuss the filling of the ladder gap with impurity states and argue that in the thermodynamic limit the spin ladder with a finite concentration of impurities always shows a Curie susceptibility at low temperatures.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.55.2955

Related papers

Magnetic responses of randomly depleted spin ladders

Arthur Lavarélo, Guillaume Roux, Nicolas Laflorencie

The magnetic responses of a spin-$1/2$ ladder doped with nonmagnetic impurities are studied combining both analytical and numerical methods. The regime where frustration induces incommensurability is taken into account. Several improvements are made on the results of the seminal work by Sigrist and Furusaki [M. Sigrist and A. Furusaki, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 65, 2385 (1996)] and deviations from the Brillouin magnetization curve due to interactions are also analyzed. We first discuss the magnetic profile around a single impurity and the effective interactions between impurities within the bond-operator mean-field theory. The results are compared to density-matrix renormalization group calculations. In particular, these quantities are shown to be sensitive to the transition to the incommensurate regime. We then focus on the behavior of the zero-field susceptibility through an effective Curie constant. At zero temperature, we give doping-dependent corrections to the results of Sigrist and Furusaki on general bipartite lattices and compute exactly the distribution of ladder clusters due to chain breaking effects. Solving the effective model with exact diagonalization and quantum Monte Carlo simulations gives the temperature dependence of the Curie constant. Its high-temperature limit is understood within a random dimer model, while the low-temperature tail is compatible with a real-space renormalization group scenario. Interestingly, solving the full microscopic model does not show a plateau corresponding to the saturation of the impurities in isotropic ladders. The second magnetic response that is analyzed is the magnetic curve. Below fields of the order of the spin gap, the magnetization process is controlled by the physics of interacting impurity spins. The random dimer model is shown to capture the bulk of the curve, accounting for the deviation from a Brillouin behavior due to interactions. The effective model calculations agree rather well with density-matrix renormalization group calculations at zero temperature and with quantum Monte Carlo simulations at finite temperature. In all, the effect of incommensurability does not display a strong qualitative effect on both the magnetic susceptibility and the magnetic curve. Consequences for experiments on the BiCu${}_{2}$PO${}_{6}$ compound and other spin-gapped materials are briefly mentioned.

arXiv:1307.6613•Physical Review B•Oct 21, 2013•14 citations

Effects of Nonmagnetic Impurity Doping on Spin Ladder System

Youichirou Iino, Masatoshi Imada

Effects of nonmagnetic impurity doping on an AF spin-1/2 Heisenberg ladder system are studied by the QMC method. A single nonmagnetic impurity induces a localized spin-1/2 moment accompanied by "static" and enhanced AF correlations around it. Small and finite concentration of impurities induces a remarkable change of magnetic and thermodynamic properties with gapless excitations. It also shows rather sharp but continuous crossover around the concentration of about 4%. Above the crossover concentration, all the spins are strongly coupled participating in the enhanced and rather uniform power-law decay of the antiferromagnetic correlation. Below the crossover, each impurity forms an antiferromagnetic cluster only weakly coupled each other. For random distribution of impurities, large Curie-like susceptibility accompanied with small residual entropy is obtained at low temperatures in agreement with recent experimental observation in Zn-doped $SrCu_{2}O_{3}$. Temperature dependence of AF susceptibility shows power-law-like but weaker divergence than the single chain AFH in the temperature range studied.

arXiv:cond-mat/9609038•Journal of the Physical Society of Japan•Dec 15, 1996•39 citations

Impurity Effect on Spin Ladder System

Yukitoshi Motome, Nobuyuki Katoh, Nobuo Furukawa +1 more

Effects of nonmagnetic impurity doping in a spin ladder system with a spin gap are investigated by the exact diagonalization as well as by the variational Monte Carlo calculations. Substantial changes in macroscopic properties such as enhancements in spin correlations and magnetic susceptibilities are observed in the low impurity concentration region, which are caused by the increase of low-energy states. These results suggest that small but finite amount of nonmagnetic impurity doping relevantly causes the reduction or the vanishment of the spin gap. This qualitatively explains the experimental result of Zn-doped SrCu$_{2}$O$_{3}$ where small doping induces gapless nature. We propose a possible scenario for this drastic change as a quantum phase transition in a spin gapped ladder system due to spinon doping effects.

arXiv:cond-mat/9605048•Journal of the Physical Society of Japan•Jul 15, 1996•47 citations

Nonmagnetic impurities in a two-leg Hubbard ladder

Amal Medhi, Saurabh Basu, Charudatt Kadolkar

Magnetic correlations are studied in a two-leg Hubbard ladder doped with nonmagnetic impurities using finite temperature quantum Monte Carlo (FTQMC) method. A number of relevant macroscopic quantities calculated as a function of temperature T and impurity concentration are found to exhibit significantly renormalized behavior, a feature noted in many experiments. The uniform magnetic susceptibility χ0(T) for the impurity doped system shows a cusplike behavior followed by a sharp increase at lower temperatures, signaling the formation of impurity induced free magnetic moments, while it diminishes rapidly for the pure system. The spin correlations are found to increase in the vicinity of an impurity. To investigate the effect of nonmagnetic impurities on the spin wave modes in the system, spin wave velocity vsw is calculated as a function of impurity concentration. The result shows that vsw is reduced by nonmagnetic impurities, indicating softening of the modes. Simulations are performed slightly away from half filling and kinetic energy of the electrons in the neighborhood of an impurity site is calculated to study the interplay between impurities and holes. However, contrary to previous experimental observations on two dimensional lattices where nonmagnetic impurities reduce hole mobility, no noticeable effect of impurity on the mobility of the neighboring electrons is found in our calculation.

Journal of Applied Physics•Mar 26, 2007•2 citations

The phase diagram and hidden order for generalized spin ladders

S. Brehmer, H.-J. Mikeska, U Neugebauer

We investigate the phase diagram of antiferromagnetic spin ladders with additional exchange interactions on diagonal bonds by variational and numerical methods. These generalized spin ladders interpolate smoothly between the [Formula: see text] chain with competing nn and nnn interactions, the [Formula: see text] chain with alternating exchange and the antiferromagnetic (AF) S = 1 chain. The Majumdar - Ghosh ground states are formulated as matrix product states and are shown to exhibit the same type of hidden order as the AF S = 1 chain. Generalized matrix product states are used for a variational calculation of the ground state energy and the spin and string correlation functions. Numerical (Lanczos) calculations of the energies of the ground state and of the low-lying excited states are performed, and compare reasonably with the variational approach. Our results support the hypothesis that the dimer and Majumdar - Ghosh points are in the same phase as the AF S = 1 chain.

arXiv:cond-mat/9604136•Journal of Physics Condensed Matter•Sep 16, 1996•28 citations

Low-Temperature Properties of the Randomly Depleted Heisenberg Ladder

Manfred Sigrist, Akira Furusaki

Low-temperature thermodynamic properties of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg ladder system with non-magnetic impurities are discussed using an effective Hamiltonian for the impurity-induced spins in the background of a spin liquid with a gap. It is shown that the uniform susceptibility shows Curie-like behavior in high-, intermediate-, and low-temperature regimes, with three different Curie constants. The ratio of specific heat to temperature, C/T, is divergent in the low-temperature limit, reflecting a singular distribution of the effective couplings among the impurity spins.

arXiv:cond-mat/9606170•Journal of the Physical Society of Japan•Aug 15, 1996•92 citations
We investigate antiferromagnetic spin ladders with nonmagnetic impurities by variational and numerical [Lanczos and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG)] methods. The interaction between the two unpaired spins opposite to the impurities is described by an effective exchange interaction Jeff{\mathrm{J}}_{\mathrm{eff}}Jeff​, the magnitude of which depends on the impurity distance. The magnitude of Jeff{\mathrm{J}}_{\mathrm{eff}}Jeff​ is different for unpaired spins at the edges of an open ladder and in the bulk. This difference is related to the different distributions of the unpaired spin into the bulk of the ladder. The numerical results are interpreted using matrix product states. Using the DMRG we calculate the spectrum of low-lying energy levels for up to six impurities and find that these spectra can be reproduced assuming pair interactions with an accuracy of better than 10%. We discuss the filling of the ladder gap with impurity states and argue that in the thermodynamic limit the spin ladder with a finite concentration of impurities always shows a Curie susceptibility at low temperatures.
The magnetic responses of a spin-1/21/21/2 ladder doped with nonmagnetic impurities are studied combining both analytical and numerical methods. The regime where frustration induces incommensurability is taken into account. Several improvements are made on the results of the seminal work by Sigrist and Furusaki [M. Sigrist and A. Furusaki, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 65, 2385 (1996)] and deviations from the Brillouin magnetization curve due to interactions are also analyzed. We first discuss the magnetic profile around a single impurity and the effective interactions between impurities within the bond-operator mean-field theory. The results are compared to density-matrix renormalization group calculations. In particular, these quantities are shown to be sensitive to the transition to the incommensurate regime. We then focus on the behavior of the zero-field susceptibility through an effective Curie constant. At zero temperature, we give doping-dependent corrections to the results of Sigrist and Furusaki on general bipartite lattices and compute exactly the distribution of ladder clusters due to chain breaking effects. Solving the effective model with exact diagonalization and quantum Monte Carlo simulations gives the temperature dependence of the Curie constant. Its high-temperature limit is understood within a random dimer model, while the low-temperature tail is compatible with a real-space renormalization group scenario. Interestingly, solving the full microscopic model does not show a plateau corresponding to the saturation of the impurities in isotropic ladders. The second magnetic response that is analyzed is the magnetic curve. Below fields of the order of the spin gap, the magnetization process is controlled by the physics of interacting impurity spins. The random dimer model is shown to capture the bulk of the curve, accounting for the deviation from a Brillouin behavior due to interactions. The effective model calculations agree rather well with density-matrix renormalization group calculations at zero temperature and with quantum Monte Carlo simulations at finite temperature. In all, the effect of incommensurability does not display a strong qualitative effect on both the magnetic susceptibility and the magnetic curve. Consequences for experiments on the BiCu2{}_{2}2​PO6{}_{6}6​ compound and other spin-gapped materials are briefly mentioned.
Effects of nonmagnetic impurity doping on an AF spin-1/2 Heisenberg ladder system are studied by the QMC method. A single nonmagnetic impurity induces a localized spin-1/2 moment accompanied by "static" and enhanced AF correlations around it. Small and finite concentration of impurities induces a remarkable change of magnetic and thermodynamic properties with gapless excitations. It also shows rather sharp but continuous crossover around the concentration of about 4%. Above the crossover concentration, all the spins are strongly coupled participating in the enhanced and rather uniform power-law decay of the antiferromagnetic correlation. Below the crossover, each impurity forms an antiferromagnetic cluster only weakly coupled each other. For random distribution of impurities, large Curie-like susceptibility accompanied with small residual entropy is obtained at low temperatures in agreement with recent experimental observation in Zn-doped SrCu2O3SrCu_{2}O_{3}SrCu2​O3​. Temperature dependence of AF susceptibility shows power-law-like but weaker divergence than the single chain AFH in the temperature range studied.
Effects of nonmagnetic impurity doping in a spin ladder system with a spin gap are investigated by the exact diagonalization as well as by the variational Monte Carlo calculations. Substantial changes in macroscopic properties such as enhancements in spin correlations and magnetic susceptibilities are observed in the low impurity concentration region, which are caused by the increase of low-energy states. These results suggest that small but finite amount of nonmagnetic impurity doping relevantly causes the reduction or the vanishment of the spin gap. This qualitatively explains the experimental result of Zn-doped SrCu2_{2}2​O3_{3}3​ where small doping induces gapless nature. We propose a possible scenario for this drastic change as a quantum phase transition in a spin gapped ladder system due to spinon doping effects.
Magnetic correlations are studied in a two-leg Hubbard ladder doped with nonmagnetic impurities using finite temperature quantum Monte Carlo (FTQMC) method. A number of relevant macroscopic quantities calculated as a function of temperature T and impurity concentration are found to exhibit significantly renormalized behavior, a feature noted in many experiments. The uniform magnetic susceptibility χ0(T) for the impurity doped system shows a cusplike behavior followed by a sharp increase at lower temperatures, signaling the formation of impurity induced free magnetic moments, while it diminishes rapidly for the pure system. The spin correlations are found to increase in the vicinity of an impurity. To investigate the effect of nonmagnetic impurities on the spin wave modes in the system, spin wave velocity vsw is calculated as a function of impurity concentration. The result shows that vsw is reduced by nonmagnetic impurities, indicating softening of the modes. Simulations are performed slightly away from half filling and kinetic energy of the electrons in the neighborhood of an impurity site is calculated to study the interplay between impurities and holes. However, contrary to previous experimental observations on two dimensional lattices where nonmagnetic impurities reduce hole mobility, no noticeable effect of impurity on the mobility of the neighboring electrons is found in our calculation.
We investigate the phase diagram of antiferromagnetic spin ladders with additional exchange interactions on diagonal bonds by variational and numerical methods. These generalized spin ladders interpolate smoothly between the [Formula: see text] chain with competing nn and nnn interactions, the [Formula: see text] chain with alternating exchange and the antiferromagnetic (AF) S = 1 chain. The Majumdar - Ghosh ground states are formulated as matrix product states and are shown to exhibit the same type of hidden order as the AF S = 1 chain. Generalized matrix product states are used for a variational calculation of the ground state energy and the spin and string correlation functions. Numerical (Lanczos) calculations of the energies of the ground state and of the low-lying excited states are performed, and compare reasonably with the variational approach. Our results support the hypothesis that the dimer and Majumdar - Ghosh points are in the same phase as the AF S = 1 chain.
Low-temperature thermodynamic properties of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg ladder system with non-magnetic impurities are discussed using an effective Hamiltonian for the impurity-induced spins in the background of a spin liquid with a gap. It is shown that the uniform susceptibility shows Curie-like behavior in high-, intermediate-, and low-temperature regimes, with three different Curie constants. The ratio of specific heat to temperature, C/T, is divergent in the low-temperature limit, reflecting a singular distribution of the effective couplings among the impurity spins.