Dr Dharmalingam Prabhakaran

Abstract:

We have used neutron powder diffraction to solve the magnetic structure of orthorhombic CoTi$_2$O$_5$, showing that the long-range ordered state below 26 K identified in our muon-spin rotation experiments is antiferromagnetic with propagation vector ${\bf k}=(\pm \frac{1}{2}, \frac{1}{2}, 0)$ and moment of 2.72(1)$\mu_{\rm B}$ per Co$^{2+}$ ion. This long range magnetic order is incompatible with the experimentally determined crystal structure because the imposed symmetry completely frustrates the exchange coupling. We conclude that the magnetic transition must therefore be associated with a spin Jahn-Teller effect which lowers the structural symmetry and thereby relieves the frustration. These results show that CoTi$_2$O$_5$ is a highly unusual low symmetry material exhibiting a purely spin-driven lattice distortion critical to the establishment of an ordered magnetic ground state.

Abstract:

The presence of spin-fluctuations deep within the ordered state of ferromagnetic [Formula: see text] alloy [Formula: see text] has long been suspected but seldom directly observed. Inhomogeneities of one type or another have been cited as important in stabilizing [Formula: see text] behaviour-either longitudinal spin-fluctuations associated with the [Formula: see text]-state (local environment) model or transverse magnetisation arising from non-collinear spin structures. In this study we employ small-angle neutron scattering with neutron polarization analysis to distinguish between the two possibilities. Surprisingly we in fact find evidence of dominant but uncorrelated longitudinal spin-fluctuations coexisting with transverse magnetisation which exists in short-range clusters of size ~[Formula: see text]. This finding supports recent first principles calculations of [Formula: see text] in which both longitudinal spin-fluctuations and magnetic short-range order are identified as important ingredients in reproducing the equilibrium [Formula: see text] lattice.

Abstract:

© 2018 American Physical Society. Inelastic neutron scattering has been used to study the magnetoelastic excitations in the multiferroic manganite hexagonal YMnO3. An avoided crossing is found between magnon and phonon modes close to the Brillouin zone boundary in the (a,b) plane. Neutron polarization analysis reveals that this mode has mixed magnon-phonon character. An external magnetic field along the c axis is observed to cause a linear field-induced splitting of one of the spin-wave branches. A theoretical description is performed, using a Heisenberg model of localized spins, acoustic phonon modes, and a magnetoelastic coupling via the single-ion magnetostriction. The model quantitatively reproduces the dispersion and intensities of all modes in the full Brillouin zone, describes the observed magnon-phonon hybridized modes, and quantifies the magnetoelastic coupling. The combined information, including the field-induced magnon splitting, allows us to exclude several of the earlier proposed models and point to the correct magnetic ground state symmetry, and provides an effective dynamic model relevant for the multiferroic hexagonal manganites.

Abstract:

Resonant elastic X-ray scattering (REXS) at the Eu M5 edge reveals an antiferromagnetic structure in layered EuCd2Sb2 at temperatures below TN = 7.4 K with a magnetic propagation vector of (0, 0, 1/2) and spins in the basal plane. Magneto-transport and REXS measurements with an in-plane magnetic field show that features in the magnetoresistance are correlated with changes in the magnetic structure induced by the field. Ab initio electronic structure calculations predict that the observed spin structure gives rise to a gapped Dirac point close to the Fermi level with a gap of ∆E ∼ 0.01 eV. The results of this study indicate that the Eu spins are coupled to conduction electron states near the Dirac point.