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In this thesis, we presented the theoretical description of the magnetic properties of various frustrated spin systems. Especially in search of exotic states, such as quantum spin liquids, magnetically frustrated systems have been subject of intense research within the last four decades. Relating experimental observations in real materials with theoretical models that capture those exotic magnetic phenomena has been one of the great challenges within the field of magnetism in condensed matter.
In order to build such a bridge between experimental observations and theoretical models, we followed two complementary strategies in this thesis. One strategy was based on first principles methods that enable the theoretical prediction of electronic properties of real materials without further experimental input than the crystal structure. Based on these predictions, low-energy models that describe magnetic interactions can be extracted and, through further theoretical modelling, can be compared to experimental observations. The second strategy was to establish low-energy models through comparison of data from experiments, such as inelastic neutron scattering intensities, with calculated predictions based on a variety of plausible magnetic models guided by microscopic insights. Both approaches allow to relate theoretical magnetic models with real materials and may provide guidance for the design of new frustrated materials or the investigation of promising models related to exotic magnetic states.
Critical spin liquid versus valence-bond glass in a triangular-lattice organic antiferromagnet
(2019)
In the quest for materials with unconventional quantum phases, the organic triangular-lattice antiferromagnet κ-(ET)2Cu2(CN)3 has been extensively discussed as a quantum spin liquid (QSL) candidate. The description of its low temperature properties has become, however, a particularly challenging task. Recently, an intriguing quantum critical behaviour was suggested from low-temperature magnetic torque experiments. Here we highlight significant deviations of the experimental observations from a quantum critical scenario by performing a microscopic analysis of all anisotropic contributions, including Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya and multi-spin scalar chiral interactions. Instead, we show that disorder-induced spin defects provide a comprehensive explanation of the low-temperature properties. These spins are attributed to valence bond defects that emerge spontaneously as the QSL enters a valence-bond glass phase at low temperature. This theoretical treatment is applicable to a general class of frustrated magnetic systems and has important implications for the interpretation of magnetic torque, nuclear magnetic resonance, thermal transport and thermodynamic experiments.
The families of organic charge-transfer salts 𝜅-(BEDT-TTF)2𝑋 and 𝜅-(BETS)2𝑋, where BEDT-TTF and BETS stand for the organic donor molecules C10H8S8 and C10H8S4Se4, respectively, and X for an inorganic electron acceptor, have been proven to serve as a powerful playground for the investigation of the physics of frustrated Mott insulators. These materials have been ascribed a model character, since the dimerization of the organic molecules allows to map these materials onto a single band Hubbard model, in which the dimers reside on an anisotropic triangular lattice. By changing the inorganic unit X or applying physical pressure, the correlation strength and anisotropy of the triangular lattice can be varied. This has led to the discovery of a variety of exotic phenomena, including quantum-spin liquid states, a plethora of long-range magnetic orders in proximity to a Mott metal-insulator transition, and unconventional superconductivity. While many of these phenomena can be described within this effective one-band Hubbard model on a triangular lattice, it has become evident in recent years that this simplified description is insufficient to capture all observed magnetic and electronic properties. The ingredients for generalized models that are relevant include, but are not limited to, spin-orbit coupling, intra-dimer charge and spin degrees of freedom, electron-lattice coupling, as well as disorder effects. Here, we review selected theoretical and experimental discoveries that clearly demonstrate the relevance thereof. At the same time, we outline that these aspects are not only relevant to this class of organic charge-transfer salts, but are also receiving increasing attention in other classes of inorganic strongly correlated electron systems. This reinforces the model character that the 𝜅-phase organic charge-transfer salts have for understanding and discovering novel phenomena in strongly correlated electron systems from a theoretical and experimental point of view.
The description of quantized collective excitations stands as a landmark in the quantum theory of condensed matter. A prominent example occurs in conventional magnets, which support bosonic magnons—quantized harmonic fluctuations of the ordered spins. In striking contrast is the recent discovery that strongly spin-orbital-coupled magnets, such as α-RuCl3, may display a broad excitation continuum inconsistent with conventional magnons. Due to incomplete knowledge of the underlying interactions unraveling the nature of this continuum remains challenging. The most discussed explanation refers to a coherent continuum of fractional excitations analogous to the celebrated Kitaev spin liquid. Here, we present a more general scenario. We propose that the observed continuum represents incoherent excitations originating from strong magnetic anharmonicity that naturally occurs in such materials. This scenario fully explains the observed inelastic magnetic response of α-RuCl3 and reveals the presence of nontrivial excitations in such materials extending well beyond the Kitaev state.
Electronic and magnetic properties of the RuX3 (X=Cl, Br, I) family: two siblings - and a cousin?
(2022)
Motivated by reports of metallic behavior in the recently synthesized RuI3, in contrast to the Mott-insulating nature of the actively discussed α-RuCl3, as well as RuBr3, we present a detailed comparative analysis of the electronic and magnetic properties of this family of trihalides. Using a combination of first-principles calculations and effective-model considerations, we conclude that RuI3, similarly to the other two members, is most probably on the verge of a Mott insulator, but with much smaller magnetic moments and strong magnetic frustration. We predict the ideal pristine crystal of RuI3 to have a nearly vanishing conventional nearest-neighbor Heisenberg interaction and to be a quantum spin liquid candidate of a possibly different kind than the Kitaev spin liquid. In order to understand the apparent contradiction to the reported resistivity ρ, we analyze the experimental evidence for all three compounds and propose a scenario for the observed metallicity in existing samples of RuI3. Furthermore, for the Mott insulator RuBr3, we obtain a magnetic Hamiltonian of a similar form to that in the much-discussed α-RuCl3 and show that this Hamiltonian is in agreement with experimental evidence in RuBr3.
The Kitaev material α-RuCl3 is among the most prominent candidates to host a quantum spin-liquid state endowed with fractionalized excitations. Recent experimental and theoretical investigations have separately revealed the importance of both the magnetoelastic coupling and the magnetic anisotropy, in dependence of the applied magnetic field direction. In this combined theoretical and experimental research, we investigate the anisotropic magnetic and magnetoelastic properties for magnetic fields applied along the main crystallographic axes as well as for fields canted out of the honeycomb plane. We found that the magnetostriction anisotropy is unusually large compared to the anisotropy of the magnetization, which is related to the strong magnetoelastic Γ′˜-type coupling in our \textit{ab-initio} derived model. We observed large, non-symmetric magnetic anisotropy for magnetic fields canted out of the honeycomb ab-plane in opposite directions, namely towards the +c∗ or −c∗ axes, respectively. The observed directional anisotropy is explained by considering the relative orientation of the magnetic field with respect to the co-aligned RuCl6 octahedra. Magnetostriction measurements in canted fields support this non-symmetric magnetic anisotropy, however these experiments are affected by magnetic torque effects. Comparison of theoretical predictions with experimental findings allow us to recognize the significant contribution of torque effects in experimental setups where α-RuCl3 is placed in canted magnetic fields.
Motivated by recent reports of a quantum-disordered ground state in the triangular lattice compound NaRuO2, we derive a jeff = 1/2 magnetic model for this system by means of first-principles calculations. The pseudospin Hamiltonian is dominated by bond-dependent off-diagonal Γ interactions, complemented by a ferromagnetic Heisenberg exchange and a notably antiferromagnetic Kitaev term. In addition to bilinear interactions, we find a sizable four-spin ring exchange contribution with a strongly anisotropic character, which has been so far overlooked when modeling Kitaev materials. The analysis of the magnetic model, based on the minimization of the classical energy and exact diagonalization of the quantum Hamiltonian, points toward the existence of a rather robust easy-plane ferromagnetic order, which cannot be easily destabilized by physically relevant perturbations.