Dr Dharmalingam Prabhakaran

Abstract:

Neutron spectroscopy was applied to study the magnetic interactions of orbitally degenerate Co2+ on a host MgO rocksalt lattice where no long-range spin or orbital order exists. The paramagnetic nature of the substituted monoxide Co0.03Mg0.97O allows for the disentanglement of spin exchange and spin-orbit interactions. By considering the prevalent excitations from Co2+ spin pairs, we extract seven exchange constants out to the fourth coordination shell. An antiferromagnetic next-nearest-neighbor 180◦ exchange interaction is dominant; however, dual ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions are observed for pairings with other pathways. These interactions can be understood in terms of a combination of orbital degeneracy in the t2g channel and the Goodenough-Kanamori-Anderson rules. Our work suggest that such a hierarchy of exchange interactions exists in transition-metal-based oxides with a t2g orbital degeneracy.

Abstract:

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:

The magnetic properties of CuO encompass several contemporary themes in condensed matter physics, including quantum magnetism, magnetic frustration, magnetically-induced ferroelectricity and orbital currents. Here we report polarized and unpolarized neutron inelastic scattering measurements which provide a comprehensive map of the cooperative spin dynamics in the low temperature antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase of CuO throughout much of the Brillouin zone. At high energies $(E \gtrsim 100\,meV)$ the spectrum displays continuum features consistent with the des Cloizeax--Pearson dispersion for an ideal $S=\frac{1}{2}$ Heisenberg AFM chain. At lower energies the spectrum becomes more three-dimensional, and we find that a linear spin-wave model for a Heisenberg AFM provides a very good description of the data, allowing for an accurate determination of the relevant exchange constants in an effective spin Hamiltonian for CuO. In the high temperature helicoidal phase, there are features in the measured low-energy spectrum that we could not reproduce with a spin-only model. We discuss how these might be associated with the magnetically-induced multiferroic behavior observed in this phase.