Ising Exchange Research Articles

Understanding the microscopic origin of the magnetic interactions in CoNb2O6

Motivated by the on-going discussion on the nature of magnetism in the quantum Ising chain CoNb2O6, we present a first-principles-based analysis of its exchange interactions with additional modeling, addressing drawbacks of a purely density functional theory ansatz. This method allows us to extract and understand the origin of the magnetic couplings—including all symmetry-allowed terms - and resolve conflicting model descriptions in CoNb2O6. We find that the twisted Kitaev chain and transverse-field ferromagnetic Ising chain views are mutually compatible, although additional off-diagonal exchanges are required for a complete picture. We show that the dominant exchange interaction is a ligand-centered process—involving eg electrons -, rendered anisotropic by low-symmetry crystal fields in CoNb2O6, resulting in dominant Ising exchange. Smaller bond-dependent anisotropies are found to originate from d − d kinetic exchange processes involving t2g electrons. We demonstrate the validity of our low-energy model by comparing its predictions to measured THz and INS spectra.

Entanglement in Quantum Dots: Insights from Dynamic Susceptibility and Quantum Fisher Information

AbstractThis study investigates the entanglement properties of quantum dots (QDs) under a universal Hamiltonian where the Coulomb interaction between particles (electrons or holes) decouples into charging energy and exchange coupling terms. Although this formalism typically decouples the charge and spin components, confinement‐induced energy splitting can induce unexpected entanglement within the system. By analyzing the dynamic susceptibility and quantum Fisher information (QFI), significant behaviors are uncovered influenced by exchange constants, temperature variations, and confinement effects. In QDs with Ising exchange interactions, far below the Stoner instability (SI) point, where the QD is in a disordered paramagnetic phase, temperature reductions lead to decreased entanglement, challenging conventional expectations. These findings demonstrate that for QDs with small exchange interactions, the responses of easy‐plane () and easy‐axis () configurations are similar, with increased anisotropy broadening susceptibility and shifting its maximum to higher frequencies. For large exchange interactions, the susceptibility differences between easy‐plane and easy‐axis QDs become significant, with easy‐plane QDs exhibiting a higher susceptibility magnitude. Additionally, the study reveals that temperature variations affect the dynamic response functions differently in easy‐axis and easy‐plane QDs. In easy‐plane QDs, QFI consistently decreases with increasing temperature, whereas in easy‐axis QDs, QFI behavior is highly dependent on the strengths of and , showing either an increase or decrease with temperature based on specific coupling conditions. Conversely, at low temperatures, anisotropic Heisenberg models exhibit enhanced entanglement near isotropic points. Overall, this work contributes to advancing the understanding of entanglement in QDs and its potential applications in quantum technologies.

Electronic transport of an extended Ising chain with competing thermal fluctuation and magnetic ordering

In this study, we investigate the behavior of spin-dependent electronic transport in a magnetic nanowire with thermal random oriented moments, connected to two similar (anti-) ferromagnetic leads. The model is based on Green’s function technique within the nearest neighbor tight-binding approach in the framework of canonical ensemble. We analyze the electronic transmission and its variance in different ordered and disordered regimes at a finite temperature in an external magnetic field. The results indicate that at nonzero temperatures, thermal fluctuation of moment orientations decreases the system’s electronic conductance, leading to a smooth conductance-energy relationship. Depending on temperature and external magnetic field values as well as Ising exchange interaction strength, the system can transit to an ordered phase. Additionally, the larger length of the interacting part affects the transmission coefficient and amplifies its variance. This study sheds light on the intricate interplay between temperature, magnetic field, and moment orientations in the context of spin-dependent electronic transport through magnetic nanowires, offering valuable insights into the usage of such systems.

Majorana-fermion mean field theories of Kitaev quantum spin liquids

We determine the phase diagrams of anisotropic Kitaev-Heisenberg models on the honeycomb lattice using parton mean-field theories based on different Majorana fermion representations of the S=1/2 spin operators. First, we use a two-dimensional Jordan-Wigner transformation (JWT) involving a semi-infinite snake string operator. To ensure that the fermionized Hamiltonian remains local, we consider the limit of extreme Ising exchange anisotropy in the Heisenberg sector. Second, we use the conventional Kitaev representation in terms of four Majorana fermions subject to local constraints, which we enforce through Lagrange multipliers. For both representations, we self-consistently decouple the interaction terms in the bond and magnetization channels and determine the phase diagrams as a function of the anisotropy of the Kitaev couplings and the relative strength of the Ising exchange. While both mean-field theories produce identical phase boundaries for the topological phase transition between the gapless and gapped Kitaev quantum spin liquids, the JWT fails to correctly describe the magnetic instability and finite-temperature behavior. Our results show that the magnetic phase transition is first order at low temperatures but becomes continuous above a certain temperature. At this energy scale, we also observe a finite-temperature crossover on the quantum-spin-liquid side, from a fractionalized paramagnet at low temperatures, in which gapped flux excitations are frozen out, to a conventional paramagnet at high temperatures. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Thermometry of strongly correlated fermionic quantum systems using impurity probes

We study quantum-impurity models as a platform for quantum thermometry. A single quantum spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ impurity is coupled to an explicit, structured, fermionic thermal sample system, which we refer to as the environment or bath. We critically assess the thermometric capabilities of the impurity as a probe, when its coupling to the environment is of Ising or Kondo exchange type. In the Ising case, we find sensitivity equivalent to that of an idealized two-level system, with peak thermometric performance obtained at a temperature that scales linearly in the applied control field, independent of the coupling strength and environment spectral features. By contrast, a richer thermometric response can be realized for Kondo impurities, since strong probe-environment entanglement can then develop. At low temperatures, we uncover a regime with a universal thermometric response that is independent of microscopic details, controlled only by the low-energy spectral features of the environment. The many-body entanglement that develops in this regime means that low-temperature thermometry with a weakly applied control field is inherently less sensitive, while optimal sensitivity is recovered by suppressing the entanglement with stronger fields.

Dipole-exchange spin waves in two-dimensional van der Waals ferromagnetic films and stripes

A spin-wave (SW) theory that includes the long-range dipole–dipole interactions is presented for monolayers of van der Waals (vdW) ferromagnets for which the magnetic ions lie on a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice. The dipolar interactions provide an additional anisotropy in these materials, along with the Ising exchange interaction and/or single-ion anisotropies that typically stabilize the two-dimensional magnetic ordering. Analytical results for the linearized SW energies are obtained for the ferromagnets in two geometries: complete films and finite-width stripes (or ribbons). In both cases it is found that the inclusion of the dipole–dipole interactions leads to a shift and sometimes a splitting of the magnetic modes in the vdW structure. Also, in the latter case, where the edges are assumed to be along the zigzag lattice directions, the dipole–dipole interactions are found to play a role, as well as the exchange interactions, in modifying the localized edge SWs. Numerical examples are given, including applications to the ferromagnet CrI3.

Magnetic properties of the Ising-like rare earth pyrosilicate: D-Er2Si2O7

Ising-like spin-1/2 magnetic materials are of interest for their ready connection to theory, particularly in the context of quantum critical behavior. In this work we report detailed studies of the magnetic properties of a member of the rare earth pyrosilicate family, D-Er2Si2O7, which is known to display a highly anisotropic Ising-like g-tensor and effective spin-1/2 magnetic moments. We used powder neutron diffraction, powder inelastic neutron spectroscopy (INS), and single crystal AC susceptibility to characterize its magnetic properties. Neutron diffraction enabled us to determine the magnetic structure below the known transition temperature (T N = 1.9 K) in zero field, confirming that the magnetic state is a four-sublattice antiferromagnetic structure with two non-collinear Ising axes, as was previously hypothesized. Our powder INS data revealed a gapped excitation at zero field, consistent with anisotropic (possibly Ising) exchange. An applied field of 1 T produces a mode softening, which is consistent with a field-induced second order phase transition. To assess the relevance of D-Er2Si2O7 to the transverse field Ising model, we performed AC susceptibility measurements on a single crystal with the magnetic field oriented in the direction transverse to the Ising axes. This revealed a transition at 2.65 T at 0.1 K, a field significantly higher than the mode-softening field observed by powder INS, showing that the field-induced phase transitions are highly field-direction dependent as expected. These measurements suggest that D-Er2Si2O7 may be a candidate for further exploration related to the transverse field Ising model.

Magnetization and Magnetocaloric Effect in Antiferromagnets with Competing Ising Exchange and Single-Ion Anisotropies

The magnetization of a two-sublattice Ising antiferromagnet with easy-plane single-ion anisotropy, which is accompanied by two phase transitions, has been studied. The both phase transitions are induced by the magnetic field. One of them is isostructural, i.e., the system symmetry remains unchanged and a transition between two antiferromagnetic states with different sublattice magnetizations takes place. The other phase transition occurs when the antiferromagnetic state transforms into the ferromagnetic one. At both phase transitions, the field dependence of the system entropy has two successive positive jumps, which is not typical of ordinary antiferromagnets. On the other hand, if the temperature of the system is higher than the tricritical temperature of the isostructural phase transition, there appears a continuous maximum in the field dependence of the entropy.

Confinement, reduced entanglement, and spin-glass order in a random quantum spin-ice model

We study an effective spin model derived perturbatively from random transverse-field Ising model on the pyrochlore lattice. The model consists of spin-configurations on the pyrochlore lattice, restricted to the spin-ice subspace, with spins interacting with random Ising exchange couplings as well as ring exchanges along the hexagons of the lattice. This model is studied by exact diagonalization upto N=64 site systems. We calculate spin-glass correlation functions and local entanglement entropy $S_T$ between spins in a single tetrahedron and the rest of the system. We find that the model undergoes two phase transitions. At weak randomness the model is in a quantum spin-ice phase where $S_T=\ln{6}$. Increasing randomness first leads to a frozen phase, with long-range spin-glass order and $S_T=\ln{2}$ corresponding to the Cat states associated with Ising order. Further increase in randomness leads to a random resonating-hexagon phase with a frozen backbone of spins and a broad distribution of entanglement entropies. The implications of these studies for non-Kramers rare-earth pyrochlores are discussed.

Frustration phenomenon in the spin-1/2 Ising–Heisenberg planar model of inter-connected trigonal bipyramid structures

Ground-state and finite-temperature properties of the exactly solvable mixed spin-1/2 Ising–Heisenberg planar model composed of identical trigonal bipyramids that are arranged into a regular archimedean lattice are examined with the aim to clarify the frustration phenomenon at zero and finite temperatures. It is shown that the ground-state spin frustration persists even far above the second-order phase transition. If the interaction ratio between the Heisenberg and Ising exchange interactions is close enough to the ground-state boundaries between the neighboring phases, a remarkable re-entrance of the (non-)frustrated spin arrangement of the Heisenberg spins can be observed around the critical temperature of the model. It is also evidenced that entropy and specific heat show pronounced temperature variations not only around the critical temperature, but also in low-temperature regime if values of the interaction parameters are taken from neighborhood of the ground-state phase transitions, where energies of the neighboring phases are very close.

Magnetization Blocking in Fe2 III Dy2 III Molecular Magnets: Ab Initio Calculations and EPR Spectroscopy.

The magnetism and magnetization blocking of a series of [Fe2 Dy2 (OH)2 (teaH)2 (RC6 H4 COO)6 ] complexes was investigated, in which teaH3 =triethanolamine and R=meta-CN (1), para-CN (2), meta-CH3 (3), para-NO2 (4) and para-CH3 (5), by combining ab initio calculations and EPR measurements. The results of broken-symmetry DFT calculations show that in all compounds the Fe-Fe exchange interaction is antiferromagnetic and stronger by far than the Fe-Dy and Dy-Dy interactions. As a result, the lowest two exchange doublets probed by EPR spectroscopy mostly originate from the Ising interaction of the dysprosium ions in all compounds. A correct quantitative description of the splitting of these two doublets requires, however, an explicit account of the Fe-Dy and Fe-Fe interactions. Due to the inversion symmetry of the complexes, the doublets under consideration are described by a collinear Ising exchange interaction. This picture is also supported by the EPR spectra, which could be simulated with parameters close to those extracted from the calculations. The magneto-structural analysis shows an increase of the antiferromagnetic Fe-Fe exchange interaction with increasing Fe-O-Fe angle and Fe-Fe distance. For the Dy-Fe interaction, the opposite tendency is observed, that is, a decrease of antiferromagnetic exchange coupling with increasing Dy-O-Fe angle and Dy-Fe distance. The transversal g factors extracted from the ab initio calculations have values in the range of 0.01-0.2, testifying to the lack of high axiality of the ground state of the dysprosium ions. This explains the lack/poor single-molecule magnetic behavior of this series of compounds at the investigated temperatures of a few Kelvin. Due to a very small gap (fractions of a wavenumber) between the ground and first-excited exchange doublet, relaxation takes place by magnetic moment reversal at individual dysprosium sites in the considered temperature domain.

Quantum Spin Ice with Frustrated Transverse Exchange: From a π-Flux Phase to a Nematic Quantum Spin Liquid.

Quantum spin ice materials, pyrochlore magnets with competing Ising and transverse exchange interactions, have been widely discussed as candidates for a quantum spin-liquid ground state. Here, motivated by quantum chemical calculations for Pr pyrochlores, we present the results of a study for frustrated transverse exchange. Using a combination of variational calculations, exact diagonalization, numerical linked-cluster and series expansions, we find that the previously studied U(1) quantum spin liquid, in its π-flux phase, transforms into a nematic quantum spin liquid at a high-symmetry, SU(2) point.

Scaling of geometric phase versus band structure in cluster-Ising models

We study the phase diagram of a class of models in which a generalized cluster interaction can be quenched by an Ising exchange interaction and external magnetic field. The various phases are studied through winding numbers. They may be ordinary phases with local order parameters or exotic ones, known as symmetry protected topologically ordered phases. Quantum phase transitions with dynamical critical exponents z=1 or z=2 are found. In particular, the criticality is analyzed through finite-size scaling of the geometric phase accumulated when the spins of the lattice perform an adiabatic precession. With this study, we quantify the scaling behavior of the geometric phase in relation to the topology and low-energy properties of the band structure of the system.

Spin-anisotropic magnetic impurity in a Fermi gas: Integration of poor man's scaling equations

We consider a single magnetic impurity described by the spin--anisotropic s-d(f) exchange (Kondo) model and formulate scaling equation for the spin-anisotropic model when the density of states (DOS) of electrons is a power law function of energy (measured relative to the Fermi energy). We solve this equation containing terms up to the second order in coupling constants in terms of elliptic functions. From the obtained solution we find the phases corresponding to the infinite isotropic antiferromagnetic Heisenberg exchange, to the impurity spin decoupled from the electron environment (only for the pseudogap DOS), and to the infinite Ising exchange (only for the diverging DOS). We analyze the critical surfaces, corresponding to the finite isotropic antiferromagnetic Heisenberg exchange for the pseudogap DOS.

Geometrically frustrated Cairo pentagonal lattice stripe with Ising and Heisenberg exchange interactions

Motivated by the recent discoveries of some compounds such as the Bi2Fe4O9 which crystallizes in an orthorhombic crystal structure with the Fe3+ ions, and iron-based oxyfluoride Bi4Fe5O13F compounds following the pattern of Cairo pentagonal structure, among some other compounds. We propose a model for one stripe of the Cairo pentagonal Ising–Heisenberg lattice, one of the edges of a pentagon is different, and this edge will be associated with a Heisenberg exchange interaction, while the Ising exchange interactions will associate the other edges. We study the phase transition at zero temperature, illustrating five phases: a ferromagnetic phase (FM), a dimer antiferromagnetic (DAF), a plaquette antiferromagnetic (PAF), a typical antiferromagnetic (AFM) and a peculiar frustrated phase (FRU) where two types of frustrated states with the same energy coexist. To obtain the partition function of this model, we use the transfer matrix approach and following the eight vertex model notation. Using this result we discuss the specific heat, internal energy and entropy as a function of the temperature, and we can observe some unexpected behavior in the low-temperature limit, such as anomalous double peak in specific heat due to the existence of three phase (FRU, PAF(AFM) and FM) transitions occurring in a close region to each other. Consequently, the low-lying energy thermal excitation generates this double anomalous peak, and we also discuss the internal energy at the low temperature limit, where this double peak curve occurs. Some properties of our result were compared with two dimensional Cairo pentagonal lattices, as well as orthogonal dimer plaquette Ising–Heisenberg chain.

Highly anisotropic exchange interactions ofjeff=12iridium moments on the fcc lattice inLa2BIrO6 (B=Mg,Zn)

We have performed inelastic neutron scattering (INS) experiments to investigate the magnetic excitations in the weakly distorted face-centered-cubic (fcc) iridate double perovskites La$_2$ZnIrO$_6$ and La$_2$MgIrO$_6$, which are characterized by A-type antiferromagnetic ground states. The powder inelastic neutron scattering data on these geometrically frustrated $j_{\rm eff}=1/2$ Mott insulators provide clear evidence for gapped spin wave excitations with very weak dispersion. The INS results and thermodynamic data on these materials can be reproduced by conventional Heisenberg-Ising models with significant uniaxial Ising anisotropy and sizeable second-neighbor ferromagnetic interactions. Such a uniaxial Ising exchange interaction is symmetry-forbidden on the ideal fcc lattice, so that it can only arise from the weak crystal distortions away from the ideal fcc limit. This may suggest that even weak distortions in $j_{\rm eff}=1/2$ Mott insulators might lead to strong exchange anisotropies. More tantalizingly, however, we find an alternative viable explanation of the INS results in terms of spin models with a dominant Kitaev interaction. In contrast to the uniaxial Ising exchange, the highly-directional Kitaev interaction is a type of exchange anisotropy which is symmetry-allowed even on the ideal fcc lattice. The Kitaev model has a magnon gap induced by quantum order-by-disorder, while weak anisotropies of the Kitaev couplings generated by the symmetry-lowering due to lattice distortions, can pin the order and enhance the magnon gap. Our findings highlight how even conventional magnetic orders in heavy transition metal oxides may be driven by highly-directional exchange interactions rooted in strong spin-orbit coupling.

Quantum cluster algorithm for frustrated Ising models in a transverse field

Working within the stochastic series expansion framework, we introduce and characterize a new quantum cluster algorithm for quantum Monte Carlo simulations of transverse field Ising models with frustrated Ising exchange interactions. As a demonstration of the capabilities of this new algorithm, we show that a relatively small, ferromagnetic next-nearest neighbour coupling drives the transverse field Ising antiferromagnet on the triangular lattice from an antiferromagnetic three-sublattice ordered state at low temperature to a ferrimagnetic three-sublattice ordered state.

Magnetic quantum phase transitions and entropy in Van Vleck magnet

Field-induced magnetic quantum phase transitions in the Van Vleck paramagnet with easy-plane single-ion anisotropy and competing Ising exchange between ions with the spin S=1 have been studied theoretically. The description was made by minimizing the Lagrange function at zero temperature (Т=0) and the free energy at T≠0. Stable and unstable solutions of equations corresponding to the case ψ0=|0〉 asymptotically transform into those following from the Lagrange function at Т=0. First-order phase transitions from the Van Vleck paramagnet state into the ferromagnet one were found to take place at a sufficiently high single-ion anisotropy. The entropy of such a magnet was shown to grow with its magnetization, as it occurs for antiferromagnets. At the point of quantum phase transition, the entropy has a jump, which magnitude depends on the ratio between the Ising exchange and anisotropy constants, as well as on the temperature. The described magnetic phase transition was supposed to be accompanied by the magnetocaloric effect. In the case when the Ising exchange dominates over the single-ion anisotropy, the magnetization reversal of ferromagnetic state by an external field was shown to be a phase transition of the first kind, which does not belong to orientational ones and which should be regarded as a quantum order-order phase transition.

Ising exchange interaction in lanthanides and actinides

The Ising exchange interaction is a limiting case of strong exchange anisotropy and represents a key property of many magnetic materials. Here we find the necessary and sufficient conditions to achieve Ising exchange interaction for metal sites with unquenched orbital moments. Contrary to current views, the rules established here narrow much the range of lanthanide and actinide ions that can exhibit Ising exchange interaction. It is shown that the Ising interaction can be of two types: (i) coaxial, with magnetic moments directed along the anisotropy axes on the metal sites and (ii) non-coaxial, with arbitrary orientation of one of the magnetic moments. These findings will contribute to purposeful design of lanthanide- and actinide-based materials.

Magnetic Grüneisen parameter and magnetocaloric properties of a coupled spin–electron double-tetrahedral chain

Magnetocaloric effect in a double-tetrahedral chain, in which nodal lattice sites occupied by the localized Ising spins regularly alternate with three equivalent lattice sites available for mobile electrons, is exactly investigated by considering the one-third electron filling and the ferromagnetic Ising exchange interaction between the mobile electrons and their nearest Ising neighbours. The entropy and the magnetic Grüneisen parameter, which closely relate to the magnetocaloric effect, are exactly calculated in order to investigate the relation between the ground-state degeneracy and the cooling efficiency of the hybrid spin–electron system during the adiabatic demagnetization.