Magnon Dispersion Research Articles

Anomalous continuum scattering and higher-order van Hove singularity in the strongly anisotropic S = 1/2 triangular lattice antiferromagnet

The S = 1/2 triangular lattice antiferromagnet (TLAF) is a paradigmatic example of frustrated quantum magnetism. An ongoing challenge involves understanding the influence of exchange anisotropy on the collective behavior within such systems. Using inelastic neutron scattering (INS) and advanced calculation techniques, we have studied the low and high-temperature spin dynamics of Ba2La2CoTe2O12 (BLCTO): a Co2+-based Jeff = 1/2 TLAF that exhibits 120° order below TN = 3.26 K. We determined the spin Hamiltonian by fitting the energy-resolved paramagnetic excitations measured at T > TN, revealing exceptionally strong easy-plane XXZ anisotropy. Below TN, the excitation spectrum exhibits a high energy continuum having a larger spectral weight than the single-magnon modes, suggesting a scenario characterized by a spinon confinement length that markedly exceeds the lattice spacing. We conjecture that this phenomenon arises from the proximity to a quantum melting point, even under strong easy-plane XXZ anisotropy. Finally, we highlight characteristic flat features in the excitation spectrum, which are connected to higher-order van Hove singularities in the magnon dispersion directly induced by easy-plane XXZ anisotropy. Our results provide a rare experimental insight into the nature of highly anisotropic S = 1/2 TLAFs between the Heisenberg and XY limits.

Magnon Sensing of NO, NO2 and NH3 Gas Capture on CrSBr Monolayer.

Air pollution and greenhouse emissions are significant problems across various sectors, urging the need for advanced technologies to detect and capture harmful gases. In recent years, two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted increasing attention due to their large surface-to-volume ratio and reactivity. Herein, we investigate the potential of single-layer CrSBr for gas sensing and capturing by means of first-principles calculations. We explore the adsorption behaviour of different pollutant gases (H2S, NH3, NO, NO2, CO and CO2) on this 2D ferromagnet and the impact of intrinsic defects on its magnetic properties. Interestingly, we find that Br vacancies enhance the adsorption of NH3, NO and NO2 and induce a selective frequency shift on the magnon dispersion. This work motivates the creation of novel magnonic gas sensing devices based on 2D van der Waals magnetic materials.

Alternating spin splitting of electronic and magnon bands in two-dimensional altermagnetic materials

Abstract Unconventional antiferromagnetism dubbed as altermagnetism was firstly discovered in rutile structured magnets, which is featured by spin splitting even without the spin-orbit coupling effect. This interesting phenomenon has led to the discovery of more altermagnetic materials. In this work, we explore two-dimensional altermagnetic materials by studying two series of two-dimensional magnets, including MF4 with M covering all 3d and 4d transition metal elements, as well as TS2 with T = V, Cr, Mn, Fe. Through the magnetic symmetry operation of the RuF4 and MnS2, it was verified that breaking the time inversion is a necessary condition for spin splitting. Based on symmetry analysis and first-principles calculations, we found that the electronic bands and magnon dispersion experience alternating spin splitting along the same path. This work paves the way for exploring altermagnetism in two-dimensional materials.

Confined magnon dispersion in ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic thin films in a second quantization approach: The case of Fe and NiO

We present a methodology based on the calculation of the inelastic scattering from magnons via the spin-scattering function in confined geometries such as thin films using a second quantization formalism, for both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic materials. The case studies are chosen with an aim to demonstrate the effects of film thickness and crystal orientation on magnon modes, using bcc Fe(100) and NiO with (100) and (111) crystallographic orientations as prototypical systems. Due to the quantization of the quasimomentum, we observe a granularity in the inelastic spectra in the reciprocal space path reflecting the orientation of the thin film. This approach also allows for the capture of softer modes that appear due to the partial interaction of magnetic moments close to the surface in a thin film geometry, in addition to bulk modes. The softer modes are also affected by crystallographic orientation, as illustrated by the different surface-related peaks of the NiO magnon density of states at approximately ∼65meV for (100) and ∼42meV for a (111)-oriented film. Additionally, we explore the role of anisotropy, revealing that anisotropy increases the overall hardness of the magnon modes. The introduction of a surface anisotropy produces a shift of the surface-related magnon DOS peak to higher energies with increased surface anisotropy, and in some cases leads to a surface-confined mode. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Spin-orbit torque manipulation of sub-terahertz magnons in antiferromagnetic α-Fe2O3

The ability to electrically manipulate antiferromagnetic magnons, essential for extending the operating speed of spintronic devices into the terahertz regime, remains a major challenge. This is because antiferromagnetic magnetism is challenging to perturb using traditional methods such as magnetic fields. Recent developments in spin-orbit torques have opened a possibility of accessing antiferromagnetic magnetic order parameters and controlling terahertz magnons, which has not been experimentally realised yet. Here, we demonstrate the electrical manipulation of sub-terahertz magnons in the α-Fe2O3/Pt antiferromagnetic heterostructure. By applying the spin-orbit torques in the heterostructure, we can modify the magnon dispersion and decrease the magnon frequency in α-Fe2O3, as detected by time-resolved magneto-optical techniques. We have found that optimal tuning occurs when the Néel vector is perpendicular to the injected spin polarisation. Our results represent a significant step towards the development of electrically tunable terahertz spintronic devices.

Semiclassical approach to spin dynamics of a ferromagnetic S = 1 chain

Abstract Motivated by recent experimental progress on the quasi-one-dimensional quantum magnet NiNb2O6, we study the spin dynamics of an S = 1 ferromagnetic Heisenberg chain with single-ion anisotropy by using a semiclassical molecular dynamics approach. This system undergoes a quantum phase transition from a ferromagnetic to a paramagnetic state under a transverse magnetic field, and the magnetic response reflecting this transition is well described by our semiclassical method. We show that at low temperature the transverse component of the dynamical structure factor depicts clearly the magnon dispersion, and the longitudinal component exhibits two continua associated with single- and two-magnon excitations, respectively. These spin excitation spectra show interesting temperature dependence as effects of magnon interactions. Our findings shed light on the experimental detection of spin excitations in a large class of quasi-one-dimensional magnets.

Understanding spin currents from magnon dispersion and polarization: Spin-Seebeck effect and neutron scattering study on Tb3Fe5O12

Magnon spin currents in the ferrimagnetic garnet Tb3Fe5O12 with 4f electrons were examined through the spin-Seebeck effect and neutron scattering measurements. The compound shows a magnetic compensation, where the spin-Seebeck signal reverses above and below Tcomp=249.5(4) K. Unpolarized neutron scattering unveils two major magnon branches with finite energy gaps, which are well explained in the framework of spin-wave theory. Their temperature dependencies and the direction of the precession motion of magnetic moments, i.e., magnon polarization, defined using polarized neutrons, explain the reversal at Tcomp and decay of the spin-Seebeck signals at low temperatures. We illustrate an example that momentum- and energy-resolved microscopic information is a prerequisite to understand the magnon spin current.

Magnon dispersion, magnetization, and thermodynamic properties of 2D-Sc/GaAs diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS)

In this paper, the effect of magnon scattering, light–matter coupling strength, temperature, and applied dc field H0 on magnon dispersion, density of magnons, magnetization, and thermodynamic properties of 2D-Sc/GaAs DMS material is studied. The Green function formalism is used to find the magnon dispersion and density in single-mode excitation employing the quantum field theory. Our findings indicate that ferromagnetic phase change is obtained within a limited low-temperature range based on the product Ω0T5/2, which remains below unity and varies with the amount of magnon scattering factor Ω0. It was presumed that the density of localized magnetic impurities can be controlled by taking into account the numerical stability with the number of holes required for mediation, and therefore, a scandium (Sc) dopant and its kind, which have a double functionality of creating holes and adding magnetic impurities from their 3d suborbital, are the best choice to replace those with higher spin magnetic moments. We also observe that the magnetic curves broaden as the temperature further rises and decrease with the enhancement of the magnon scattering factor, perhaps, due to quenching of fermionic spins ceasing the interband excitation. However, in the absence of this factor, the magnetization decreases linearly with the increase in the temperature, breaking the Bloch T3/2 low, perhaps, introducing anomalous condition to such 2D materials. The light–matter coupling strength and the dc field H0 are alleged to be responsible for the formation of the energy gap and variation of magnon dispersion. This work suggests that there is a point above which the temperature TC may not rise with the increase in the impurity concentration x due to magnon scattering, distressing the entire thermodynamic property.

Magnons in a two-dimensional Weyl magnet

The discovery of topological states of matter has led to a revolution in condensed-matter science. While a non-trivial band topology in a material is often associated with intriguing transport properties, much less attention has been given to the impact on spin dynamics and non-equilibrium magnetization states. Here, we provide evidence that a chiral asymmetric magnon dispersion in the two-dimensional Weyl magnet Fe/W(110) is related to the presence of Weyl fermions close to the Fermi energy and surface Fermi arcs. We find that the large anomalous Hall conductivity and the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction are attributed to the non-trivial band topology in the composite momentum-magnetization space. Our results show the direct impact of Weyl fermions on both the charge and spin dynamics in a two-dimensional magnet. Unveiling these principles can promote innovative technologies in magnonics by utilizing topological materials, where magnons and non-trivial topological electronic states can be manipulated through magnetization.

Local temperature control of magnon frequency and direction of supercurrents in a magnon Bose–Einstein condensate

The creation of temperature variations in magnetization, and hence in the frequencies of the magnon spectrum in laser-heated regions of magnetic films, is an important method for studying Bose–Einstein condensation of magnons, magnon supercurrents, Bogoliubov waves, and similar phenomena. In our study, we demonstrate analytically, numerically, and experimentally that, in addition to the magnetization variations, it is necessary to consider the connected variations of the demagnetizing field. In the case of a heat-induced local minimum of the saturation magnetization, the combination of these two effects results in a local increase in the minimum frequency value of the magnon dispersion at which the Bose–Einstein condensate emerges. As a result, a magnon supercurrent directed away from the hot region is formed.

Large charge ’t Hooft limit of N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 4 super-Yang-Mills

The planar integrability of N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 4 super-Yang-Mills (SYM) is the cornerstone for numerous exact observables. We show that the large charge sector of the SU(2) N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 4 SYM provides another interesting solvable corner which exhibits striking similarities despite being far from the planar limit. We study non-BPS operators obtained by small deformations of half-BPS operators with R-charge J in the limit J → ∞ with λJ≡gYM2J/2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\\lambda}_J\\equiv {g}_{\ extrm{YM}}^2J/2 $$\\end{document} fixed. The dynamics in this large charge ’t Hooft limit is constrained by a centrally-extended psu\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathfrak{psu} $$\\end{document}(2|2)2 symmetry that played a crucial role for the planar integrability. To the leading order in 1/J, the spectrum is fully fixed by this symmetry, manifesting the magnon dispersion relation familiar from the planar limit, while it is constrained up to a few constants at the next order. We also determine the structure constant of two large charge operators and the Konishi operator, revealing a rich structure interpolating between the perturbative series at weak coupling and the worldline instantons at strong coupling. In addition we compute heavy-heavy-light-light (HHLL) four-point functions of half-BPS operators in terms of resummed conformal integrals and recast them into an integral form reminiscent of the hexagon formalism in the planar limit. For general SU(N) gauge groups, we study integrated HHLL correlators by supersymmetric localization and identify a dual matrix model of size J/2 that reproduces our large charge result at N = 2. Finally we discuss a relation to the physics on the Coulomb branch and explain how the dilaton Ward identity emerges from a limit of the conformal block expansion. We comment on generalizations including the large spin ’t Hooft limit, the combined large N-large J limits, and applications to general N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{N} $$\\end{document} = 2 superconformal field theories.

Magnon bands in pyrochlore slabs with Heisenberg exchange and anisotropies

The pyrochlore lattice is a versatile venue to probe the properties of magnetically ordered states induced or perturbed by anisotropic terms like the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interactions or single-ion anisotropy. Several such ordered states have been investigated recently as precursors of topological magnons and the associated surface states. In parallel, there has been recent progress in growing thin films of magnetic materials with this lattice structure along high symmetry directions of the lattice. In both cases, an account of the magnetic excitations of relevant Hamiltonians for finite slabs is a necessary step in the analysis of the physics of these systems. While the analysis of bulk magnons for these systems is quite common, a direct evaluation of the magnon spectra in the slab geometry, though required, is less frequently encountered. We study here magnon bands in the slab geometry for a class of spin models on the pyrochlore lattice with Heisenberg exchange, Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction and spin-ice anisotropy. For a range of model parameters, for both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic exchange, we compute the classical ground states for different slab orientations and determine the spin wave excitations above them. We analyze the ferromagnetic splay phase, the all-in-all-out (AIAO) phase and a coplanar phase and evaluate magnon dispersions for slabs oriented perpendicular to the [111], [100] and [110] directions. For all the phases considered, depending on the slab orientation, magnon band structures can be non-reciprocal and we highlight the differences in the three orientations from this point-of-view. Finally, we present details of the surface localized magnons for all the three slab orientations in the phases we study. For the ferromagnetic splay phase and the AIAO phase we analyze surface states associated with point degeneracies or nodal lines in the bulk spectrum by computing the magnonic Berry curvature and Weyl charges or Chern numbers associated with it.

Giant Magnon-Polaron Anomalies in Spin Seebeck Effect in Double Umbrella-Structured Tb_{3}Fe_{5}O_{12} Films.

We report a giant hysteretic spin Seebeck effect (SSE) anomaly with a sign reversal at magnetic fields much stronger than the coercive field in a (001)-oriented Tb_{3}Fe_{5}O_{12} film. The high-field SSE enhancement reaches 4200% at approximately 105K over its weak-field value and presents a nonmonotonic dependence on temperature. The unexpected high-field hysteresis of SSE is found to be associated with a magnetic transition of double-umbrella spin texture in TbIG. Nearly parallel dispersion curves of magnons and acoustic phonons around this neoteric transition are supported by theoretical calculations, leading to a high density of field-tuned magnon polarons and consequently an extraordinarily large SSE. Our study provides insight into the evolution of magnon dispersions of double-umbrella TbIG and could potentially boost the efficiency of magnon-polarons SSE devices.

Effect of interlayer exchange coupling interaction on topological phase of a bilayer honeycomb Heisenberg ferromagnet

Layered magnetic topological materials are material systems that exhibit both magnetic ordering and topological properties in their smallest two-dimensional units. Studying these systems may lead to the observation of new physical properties and phenomena, which has attracted considerable attention from researchers. The effect of interlayer exchange coupling interactions on bilayer honeycomb Heisenberg ferromagnets with interlayer coupled topological phase is investigated by using linear spin wave theory. The influence of introducing two additional types of interactions, i.e. interlayer exchange coupling interaction and interlayer easy-axis anisotropy interaction, on the topological phase transition are also explored in this work. By calculating the magnon dispersion relations at various interlayer exchange coupling interaction intensities, it is found that the band gaps of high energy band and low energy band both close and reopen at the Dirac points when the system reaches the critical value of interlayer exchange coupling interaction. In magnon systems, such physical phenomena typically relate to topological phase transitions. When calculating the Berry curvature and Chern numbers for the bands in the aforementioned process, it is found that the sign of the Berry curvature reverses and the Chern numbers change when the critical value of interlayer exchange coupling interaction strength is reached, confirming that a topological phase transition occurs indeed. Introducing two other types of interlayer exchange coupling interactions in this process can lead various novel topological phases to occur in the system. The enhancement of interlayer easy-axis anisotropy interactions is likely to impede the topological phase transitions occurring in the system. We find that a major distinction between bilayer honeycomb ferromagnets and their single-layer counterparts lies in the fact that during a topological phase transition, the sign of the magnon thermal Hall coefficient does not change; on the contrary, abrupt shift in the thermal Hall coefficient curve occurs which can be seen as an indicator of topological phase transition of bilayer honeycomb ferromagnets, and is also reflected in the change in magnon Nernst coefficient. The research results of this work can provide theoretical support for developing novel spintronic devices with enhanced information transmission capabilities by using bilayer honeycomb ferromagnetic materials, and can also provide theoretical reference for studing other bilayer ferromagnetic systems.

Chiral Magnons in Altermagnetic RuO_{2}.

Magnons in ferromagnets have one chirality, and typically are in the GHz range and have a quadratic dispersion near the zero wave vector. In contrast, magnons in antiferromagnets are commonly considered to have bands with both chiralities that are degenerate across the entire Brillouin zone, and to be in the THz range and to have a linear dispersion near the center of the Brillouin zone. Here we theoretically demonstrate a new class of magnons on a prototypical d-wave altermagnet RuO_{2} with the compensated antiparallel magnetic order in the ground state. Based on density-functional-theory calculations we observe that the THz-range magnon bands in RuO_{2} have an alternating chirality splitting, similar to the alternating spin splitting of the electronic bands, and a linear magnon dispersion near the zero wave vector. We also show that, overall, the Landau damping of this metallic altermagnet is suppressed due to the spin-split electronic structure, as compared to an artificial antiferromagnetic phase of the same RuO_{2} crystal with spin-degenerate electronic bands and chirality-degenerate magnon bands.

Gænice: A general model for magnon band structure of artificial spin ices

Arrays of artificial spin ices exhibit reconfigurable ferromagnetic resonance modes that can be leveraged and designed for potential applications. However, analytical and numerical studies of the frequency response of artificial spin ices have been restricted in scope due to the need of take into account nonlocal dipole fields in theoretical calculations or by long computation times in micromagnetic simulations. Here, we introduce Gænice, a framework to compute magnon dispersion relations of arbitrary artificial spin ice configurations. Gænice makes use of a tight-binding approach to compute the magnon bands. It also provides the user control over the interaction terms included, e.g., external field, shape anisotropy, exchange, and dipole, making Gænice useful for computing ferromagnetic resonances for a variety of structures, such as multilayers and ensembles of weakly or non-interacting nanoparticles. Because it relies on a semi-analytical model, Gænice is computationally inexpensive and efficient. This makes it an attractive tool for the exploration of large parameter spaces. We expect Gænice to help guide the development of novel artificial spin ices geometries and specific micromagnetic simulations for full quantitative verification.

Direct Observation of Propagating Spin Waves in the 2D van der Waals Ferromagnet Fe5GeTe2.

Magnetism in reduced dimensionalities is of great fundamental interest while also providing perspectives for applications of materials with novel functionalities. In particular, spin dynamics in two dimensions (2D) have become a focus of recent research. Here, we report the observation of coherent propagating spin-wave dynamics in a ∼30 nm thick flake of 2D van der Waals ferromagnet Fe5GeTe2 using X-ray microscopy. Both phase and amplitude information were obtained by direct imaging below TC for frequencies from 2.77 to 3.84 GHz, and the corresponding spin-wave wavelengths were measured to be between 1.5 and 0.5 μm. Thus, parts of the magnonic dispersion relation were determined despite a relatively high magnetic damping of the material. Numerically solving an analytic multilayer model allowed us to corroborate the experimental dispersion relation and predict the influence of changes in the saturation magnetization or interlayer coupling, which could be exploited in future applications by temperature control or stacking of 2D-heterostructures.

Strain engineering of magnetic exchange and topological magnons in chromium trihalides from first-principles

Recent experiments evidence the direct observation of spin waves in chromium trihalides and the presence of a gap at the Dirac points of the magnon dispersion in bulk CrI3. However, the topological origin of this feature remains unclear and its emergence at the 2D limit has not yet been proven experimentally. Herein, we perform a fully self-consistent ab initio analysis to deeply understand magnetic exchange of chromium trihalides in the 2D limit. We compute the orbital dependent magnetic interactions and Curie temperatures under applied biaxial strain. Our results confirm the existence of a gap around the K high-symmetry point in the linear magnon dispersion of CrI3, which originates as a direct consequence of intralayer Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya (DM) interaction. In addition, our orbital resolved analysis reveals the microscopic mechanisms that can be exploited using strain engineering to increase the strength of the DM interaction and thus control the topological gap width in CrI3. This paves the way to the further development of this family of materials as building-blocks for topological magnonics at the limit of miniaturization.

Machine learning assisted derivation of minimal low-energy models for metallic magnets

We consider the problem of extracting a low-energy spin Hamiltonian from a triangular Kondo Lattice Model (KLM). The non-analytic dependence of the effective spin-spin interactions on the Kondo exchange excludes the use of perturbation theory beyond the second order. We then introduce a Machine Learning (ML) assisted protocol to extract effective two- and four-spin interactions. The resulting spin model reproduces the phase diagram of the original KLM as a function of magnetic field and single-ion anisotropy and reveals the effective four-spin interactions that stabilize the field-induced skyrmion crystal phase. Moreover, this model enables the computation of static and dynamical properties with a much lower numerical cost relative to the original KLM. A comparison of the dynamical spin structure factor in the fully polarized phase computed with both models reveals a good agreement for the magnon dispersion even though this information was not included in the training data set.

Observation of linear magnetoelectric effect in a Dirac magnon antiferromagnet Cu3TeO6

Cu3TeO6, a three-dimensional antiferromagnet forming a unique spin-web lattice of spin-1/2 Cu2+ ions below the Néel temperature TN ≈ 62 K, has recently been found to exhibit topological Dirac or nodal magnon dispersion. In this study, we report the discovery of the linear magnetoelectric (ME) effects in Cu3TeO6 below TN. Our pyroelectric current measurements at a constant magnetic field (H) reveal a linear increase of electric polarization (P) with H for both P//H and P⊥ H configurations; a maximum P//[110] = 20 µC/m2 is obtained at µ0H//11¯0 = 14 T, corresponding to a linear ME coefficient 1.8 ps/m. Magnetic point group analysis and Monte-Carlo simulations confirm that finite linear ME coefficients are allowed in the off-diagonal and diagonal ME tensor components, consistent with the magnetic point group of 3¯′. As the parity-time symmetry can be broken in the presence of H or electric field E in the linear ME materials, we envisage that Cu3TeO6 should exhibit a H- or E-induced transformation in the topological magnon dispersion from a Dirac point/nodal line type into two Weyl point types.