Abstract
Motifs of periodic modulations are encountered in a variety of natural systems, where at least two rival states are present. In strongly correlated electron systems, such behaviour has typically been associated with competition between short- and long-range interactions, for example, between exchange and dipole–dipole interactions in the case of ferromagnetic thin films. Here we show that spin-stripe textures may develop also in antiferromagnets, where long-range dipole–dipole magnetic interactions are absent. A comprehensive analysis of magnetic susceptibility, high-field magnetization, specific heat and neutron diffraction measurements unveils β-TeVO4 as a nearly perfect realization of a frustrated (zigzag) ferromagnetic spin-1/2 chain. Notably, a narrow spin-stripe phase develops at elevated magnetic fields due to weak frustrated short-range interchain exchange interactions, possibly assisted by the symmetry-allowed electric polarization. This concept provides an alternative route for the stripe formation in strongly correlated electron systems and may help understanding of other widespread, yet still elusive, stripe-related phenomena.
Highlights
Motifs of periodic modulations are encountered in a variety of natural systems, where at least two rival states are present
We present magnetic susceptibility, magnetization, specific heat, neutron diffraction and spherical neutron polarimetry measurements, which reveal that competing ferromagnetic NN and antiferromagnetic NNN interactions in b-TeVO4 are comparable in magnitude
The nanometre-scale modulation in the stripe phase is far from being parallel to the main k modulation (Fig. 4b–e), that is, Dk Á ka[0], the stripes cannot be explained by the intrachain interactions alone
Summary
Motifs of periodic modulations are encountered in a variety of natural systems, where at least two rival states are present. In strongly correlated electron systems, such behaviour has typically been associated with competition between short- and long-range interactions, for example, between exchange and dipole–dipole interactions in the case of ferromagnetic thin films. We show that spin-stripe textures may develop in antiferromagnets, where long-range dipole–dipole magnetic interactions are absent. A narrow spin-stripe phase develops at elevated magnetic fields due to weak frustrated short-range interchain exchange interactions, possibly assisted by the symmetry-allowed electric polarization. This concept provides an alternative route for the stripe formation in strongly correlated electron systems and may help understanding of other widespread, yet still elusive, stripe-related phenomena. Several copper-oxide[21,22] and vanadate[23,24,25] compounds possess the ‘zigzag’ chain topology, high saturation fields, anisotropy effects or sizable interchain interactions hamper experimental investigation in most cases
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