Two-dimensional Antiferromagnet Research Articles

Theory of the Interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction in Rashba Antiferromagnets.

In antiferromagnetic (AFM) thin films, broken inversion symmetry or coupling to adjacent heavy metals can induce Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interactions. Knowledge of the DM parameters is essential for understanding and designing exotic spin structures, such as hedgehog Skyrmions and chiral Néel walls, which are attractive for use in novel information storage technologies. We introduce a framework for computing the DM interaction in two-dimensional Rashba antiferromagnets. Unlike in Rashba ferromagnets, the DM interaction is not suppressed even at low temperatures. The material parameters control both the strength and the sign of the interfacial DM interaction. Our results suggest a route toward controlling the DM interaction in AFM materials by means of doping and electric fields.

Electronic Phase Separation in Iron Selenide (Li,Fe)OHFeSe Superconductor System**Supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China under Grant Nos 2017YFA0303003, 2016YFA0300300 and 2015CB921000, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 11574370, 11474338, 11674374 and 61501220, the Strategic Priority Research Program and Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences under

The phenomenon of phase separation into antiferromagnetic (AFM) and superconducting (SC) or normal-state regions has great implication for the origin of high-temperature (high-Tc) superconductivity. However, the occurrence of an intrinsic antiferromagnetism above the Tc of (Li,Fe)OHFeSe superconductor is questioned. Here we report a systematic study on a series of (Li,Fe)OHFeSe single crystal samples with Tc up to ∼41 K. We observe an evident drop in the static magnetization at Tafm ∼ 125 K, in some of the SC (Tc ≲ 38 K, cell parameter c ≲ 9.27 Å) and non-SC samples. We verify that this AFM signal is intrinsic to (Li,Fe)OHFeSe. Thus, our observations indicate mesoscopic-to-macroscopic coexistence of an AFM state with the normal (below Tafm) or SC (below Tc) state in (Li,Fe)OHFeSe. We explain such coexistence by electronic phase separation, similar to that in high-Tc cuprates and iron arsenides. However, such an AFM signal can be absent in some other samples of (Li,Fe)OHFeSe, particularly it is never observed in the SC samples of Tc ≳ 38 K, owing to a spatial scale of the phase separation too small for the macroscopic magnetic probe. For this case, we propose a microscopic electronic phase separation. The occurrence of two-dimensional AFM spin fluctuations below nearly the same temperature as Tafm, reported previously for a (Li,Fe)OHFeSe (Tc ∼ 42 K) single crystal, suggests that the microscopic static phase separation reaches vanishing point in high-Tc (Li,Fe)OHFeSe. A complete phase diagram is thus established. Our study provides key information of the underlying physics for high-Tc superconductivity.

Observation of ferroelastic domains in layered magnetic compounds using birefringence imaging

The two-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet (C2H5NH3)2CuCl4 is a candidate compound for the coexistence of ferroelectricity and ferroelasticity; however, the microscopic observations of multiferroic domains may still be unclear. In-plane birefringence imaging measurements were performed to observe the manner in which the ferroelectric and the ferroelastic domains change during phase transitions between 15 K and 300 K. It was found that 90° ferroelastic domains appeared in the ab-plane at 300 K. As the temperature decreased toward 15 K, each domain inverted at a certain temperature (Ta) without structural or magnetic phase transitions. The value of Ta was found to be significantly influenced by external stresses; therefore, birefringence imaging techniques are useful for investigating variations in ferroelastic domains with temperature. Furthermore, a structural phase transition from orthorhombic to monoclinic or triclinic occurred at 230 ~ 240 K; however, no spontaneous polarization appeared in the ab-plane over the entire investigated range.

Weak localization of magnons in a disordered two-dimensional antiferromagnet

We propose the weak localization of magnons in a disordered two-dimensional antiferromagnet. We derive the longitudinal thermal conductivity ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{xx}$ for magnons of a disordered Heisenberg antiferromagnet in the linear-response theory with the linear-spin-wave approximation. We show that the back scattering of magnons is enhanced critically by the particle-particle-type multiple impurity scattering. This back scattering causes a logarithmic suppression of ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{xx}$ with the length scale in two dimensions. We also argue a possible effect of inelastic scattering on the temperature dependence of ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{xx}$. This weak localization is useful to control turning the magnon thermal current on and off.

Spin wave mediated interaction as a mechanism of pairs formation in iron-based superconductors

The spin wave mediated interaction between electrons has been proposed as mechanism to formation of electron pairs in iron-based superconductors. We employe the diagrammatic expansion to calculate the binding energy of electrons pairs mediated by spin wave. Therefore, we propose the coupling of electrons in high-temperature superconductors mediated by spin waves, since that is well known that this class of superconductors materials if relates with spin-1/2 two-dimensional antiferromagnets, where it is well known there be an interplay between antiferromagnetism 2D and high-temperature superconductivity.

Negative magnetothermal resistance in a disordered two-dimensional antiferromagnet

We demonstrate that a weak external magnetic field can induce negative magneto-thermal-resistance for magnons in a disordered two-dimensional antiferromagnet. We study the main effect of a weak external magnetic field on the longitudinal thermal conductivity, $\kappa_{xx}$, for a disordered antiferromagnet using the weak-localization theory for magnons. We show that the weak-localization correction term of $\kappa_{xx}$ positively increases with increasing the magnetic field parallel to the ordered spins. Since this increase corresponds to a decrease of the thermal resistivity, this phenomenon is negative magneto-thermal-resistance for magnons. This negative magneto-thermal-resistance and the weak localization of magnons will be used to control the magnon thermal current in antiferromagnetic spintronics devices. We also discuss several implications for further experimental and theoretical studies for disordered magnets.

Entanglement in site diluted quantum two-dimensional antiferromagnet

The von Neumann entanglement entropy is studied for the two-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet with ion single anisotropy in the square lattice and in the presence of nonmagnetic impurities, at T=0 using the SU(3) Schwinger boson theory. In particular, we discuss the influence of site disorder on the quantum entanglement of this model that is characterized by a quantum phase transition at Dc, that separates a Néel phase, D<Dc, which is gapless, from a disordered phase, gapped phase, D>Dc. We find that the quantum entanglement in D<Dc for the model is destroyed for a concentration of nonmagnetic impurities xc≈0.5.

Perpendicular susceptibility and geometrical frustration in two-dimensional Ising antiferromagnets: Exact solutions

Discovery of new materials and improved experimental as well as numerical techniques have led to a renewed interest in geometrically frustrated spin systems. However, there are very few exact results available that can provide a benchmark for comparison. In this work, we calculate exactly the perpendicular susceptibility ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$ for an Ising antiferromagnet with (i) nearest-neighbor pair interaction on a kagome lattice where strong frustration prevents long-range ordering and (ii) elementary triplet interactions on a kagome lattice which has no frustration but the system remains disordered down to zero temperature. By comparing with other known exact results with and without frustration, we propose that an appropriately temperature-scaled ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$ can be used as a quantitative measure of the degree of frustration in Ising spin systems.

Magnon Spin-Momentum Locking: Various Spin Vortices and Dirac magnons in Noncollinear Antiferromagnets.

We generalize the concept of the spin-momentum locking to magnonic systems and derive the formula to calculate the spin expectation value for one-magnon states of general two-body spin Hamiltonians. We give no-go conditions for magnon spin to be independent of momentum. As examples of the magnon spin-momentum locking, we analyze a one-dimensional antiferromagnet with the Néel order and two-dimensional kagome lattice antiferromagnets with the 120° structure. We find that the magnon spin depends on its momentum even when the Hamiltonian has the z-axis spin rotational symmetry, which can be explained in the context of a singular band point or a U(1) symmetry breaking. A spin vortex in momentum space generated in a kagome lattice antiferromagnet has the winding number Q=-2, while the typical one observed in topological insulator surface states is characterized by Q=+1. A magnonic analogue of the surface states, the Dirac magnon with Q=+1, is found in another kagome lattice antiferromagnet. We also derive the sum rule for Q by using the Poincaré-Hopf index theorem.

Supersolid magnetic phase in the two-dimensional Ising-like antiferromagnet with strong single-ion anisotropy

The Ising model with the frustrated exchange interaction for strongly anisotropic antiferromagnetic ultrathin film is investigated in the mean field approximation at low temperatures. It is shown that a spatially inhomogeneous state can be accomplished in the system at a certain relation of material constants values, along with homogeneous states: ferromagnetic, quadrupolar or supersolid magnetic phases. The phase diagram of the system is built on the basis of stability lines analysis.

SU(2) Schwinger boson theory of the frustrated two-dimensional antiferromagnet

We have obtained the temperature T0 of a phase transition in this model as a function of the frustration parameter J2 in the S=1/2 two-dimensional frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnet in the square lattice considering second-neighbor interactions in the diagonal. We have employed the SU(2) Schwinger boson formalism to obtain the behavior of T0 vs. J2. We have considered the inter-chain coupling in the diagonal as antiferromagnetic, J2>0, and the nearest-neighbor coupling as antiferromagnetic J1>0. The critical temperature T0 is the temperature where the correlation length ξ(T0)→0.

Cluster algorithms for frustrated two-dimensional Ising antiferromagnets via dual worm constructions.

We report on the development of two dual worm constructions that lead to cluster algorithms for efficient and ergodic Monte Carlo simulations of frustrated Ising models with arbitrary two-spin interactions that extend up to third-neighbors on the triangular lattice. One of these algorithms generalizes readily to other frustrated systems, such as Ising antiferromagnets on the Kagome lattice with further neighbor couplings. We characterize the performance of both these algorithms in a challenging regime with power-law correlations at finite wave vector.

Raman Scattering from Higgs Mode Oscillations in the Two-Dimensional Antiferromagnet Ca_{2}RuO_{4}.

We present and analyze Raman spectra of the Mott insulator Ca_{2}RuO_{4}, whose quasi-two-dimensional antiferromagnetic order has been described as a condensate of low-lying spin-orbit excitons with angular momentum J_{eff}=1. In the A_{g} polarization geometry, the amplitude (Higgs) mode of the spin-orbit condensate is directly probed in the scalar channel, thus avoiding infrared-singular magnon contributions. In the B_{1g} geometry, we observe a single-magnon peak as well as two-magnon and two-Higgs excitations. Model calculations using exact diagonalization quantitatively agree with the observations. Together with recent neutron scattering data, our study provides strong evidence for excitonic magnetism in Ca_{2}RuO_{4} and points out new perspectives for research on the Higgs mode in two dimensions.

Two-Dimensional J_{eff}=1/2 Antiferromagnetic Insulator Unraveled from Interlayer Exchange Coupling in Artificial Perovskite Iridate Superlattices.

We report an experimental investigation of the two-dimensional J_{eff}=1/2 antiferromagnetic Mott insulator by varying the interlayer exchange coupling in [(SrIrO_{3})_{1}, (SrTiO_{3})_{m}] (m=1, 2 and 3) superlattices. Although all samples exhibited an insulating ground state with long-range magnetic order, temperature-dependent resistivity measurements showed a stronger insulating behavior in the m=2 and m=3 samples than the m=1 sample which displayed a clear kink at the magnetic transition. This difference indicates that the blocking effect of the excessive SrTiO_{3} layer enhances the effective electron-electron correlation and strengthens the Mott phase. The significant reduction of the Néel temperature from 150K for m=1 to 40K for m=2 demonstrates that the long-range order stability in the former is boosted by a substantial interlayer exchange coupling. Resonant x-ray magnetic scattering revealed that the interlayer exchange coupling has a switchable sign, depending on the SrTiO_{3} layer number m, for maintaining canting-induced weak ferromagnetism. The nearly unaltered transition temperature between the m=2 and the m=3 demonstrated that we have realized a two-dimensional antiferromagnet at finite temperatures with diminishing interlayer exchange coupling.

Ashkin-Teller criticality and weak first-order behavior of the phase transition to a fourfold degenerate state in two-dimensional frustrated Ising antiferromagnets.

We study the thermal phase transition of the fourfold degenerate phases (the plaquette and single-stripe states) in the two-dimensional frustrated Ising model on the Shastry-Sutherland lattice using Monte Carlo simulations. The critical Ashkin-Teller-like behavior is identified both in the plaquette phase region and the single-stripe phase region. The four-state Potts critical end points differentiating the continuous transitions from the first-order ones are estimated based on finite-size-scaling analyses. Furthermore, a similar behavior of the transition to the fourfold single-stripe phase is also observed in the anisotropic triangular Ising model. Thus, this work clearly demonstrates that the transitions to the fourfold degenerate states of two-dimensional Ising antiferromagnets exhibit similar transition behavior.

Higgs amplitude mode in a two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnet near the quantum critical point

Spontaneous symmetry-breaking quantum phase transitions play an essential role in condensed matter physics. The collective excitations in the broken-symmetry phase near the quantum critical point can be characterized by fluctuations of phase and amplitude of the order parameter. The phase oscillations correspond to the massless Nambu$-$Goldstone modes whereas the massive amplitude mode, analogous to the Higgs boson in particle physics, is prone to decay into a pair of low-energy Nambu$-$Goldstone modes in low dimensions. Especially, observation of a Higgs amplitude mode in two dimensions is an outstanding experimental challenge. Here, using the inelastic neutron scattering and applying the bond-operator theory, we directly and unambiguously identify the Higgs amplitude mode in a two-dimensional S=1/2 quantum antiferromagnet C$_9$H$_{18}$N$_2$CuBr$_4$ near a quantum critical point in two dimensions. Owing to an anisotropic energy gap, it kinematically prevents such decay and the Higgs amplitude mode acquires an infinite lifetime.

Quantum critical point in the Sc-doped itinerant antiferromagnet TiAu

We present an experimental realization of a quantum critical point in an itinerant antiferromagnet composed of nonmagnetic constituents, TiAu. By partially substituting Ti with Sc in ${\mathrm{Ti}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Sc}}_{x}\mathrm{Au}$, a doping amount of ${x}_{c}=0.13\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.01$ induces a quantum critical point with minimal disorder effects. The accompanying non-Fermi liquid behavior is observed in both the resistivity $\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\propto}T$ and specific heat ${C}_{p}/T\ensuremath{\propto}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{ln}T$, characteristic of a two-dimensional antiferromagnet. The quantum critical point is accompanied by an enhancement of the spin fluctuations, as indicated by the diverging Sommerfeld coefficient $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ at $x={x}_{c}$.

Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless type scenario in the molecular spin liquid ACr2O4(A=Mg,Zn,Cd)

The spin relaxation in chromium spinel oxides $A$Cr$_{2}$O$_{4}$ ($A=$ Mg, Zn, Cd) is investigated in the paramagnetic regime by electron spin resonance (ESR). The temperature dependence of the ESR linewidth indicates an unconventional spin-relaxation behavior, similar to spin-spin relaxation in the two-dimensional (2D) chromium-oxide triangular lattice antiferromagnets. The data can be described in terms of a generalized Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) type scenario for 2D systems with additional internal symmetries. Based on the characteristic exponents obtained from the evaluation of the ESR linewidth, short-range order with a hidden internal symmetry is suggested.

Finite-size scaling of the Shannon-Rényi entropy in two-dimensional systems with spontaneously broken continuous symmetry

We study the scaling of the (basis dependent) Shannon entropy for two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets with N\'eel long-range order. We use a massless free-field description of the gapless spin wave modes and phase space arguments to treat the fact that the finite-size ground state is rotationally symmetric, while there are degenerate physical ground states which break the symmetry. Our results show that the Shannon entropy (and its R\'enyi generalizations) possesses some universal logarithmic term proportional to the number $N_\text{NG}$ of Nambu-Goldstone modes. In the case of a torus, we show that $S_{n>1} \simeq {\rm const.} N+ \frac{N_\text{NG}}{4}\frac{n}{n-1} \ln{N}$ and $S_1 \simeq {\rm const.} N - \frac{N_\text{NG}}{4} \ln{N}$, where $N$ is the total number of sites and $n$ the R\'enyi index. The result for $n>1$ is in reasonable agreement with the quantum Monte Carlo results of Luitz et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 057203 (2014)], and qualitatively similar to those obtained previously for the entanglement entropy. The Shannon entropy of a line subsystem (embedded in the two-dimensional system) is also considered. Finally, we present some density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) calculations for a spin$\frac{1}{2}$ XY model on the square lattice in a cylinder geometry. These numerical data confirm our findings for logarithmic terms in the $n=\infty$ R\'enyi entropy (also called $-\ln{p_{\rm max}}$). They also reveal some universal dependence on the cylinder aspect ratio, in good agreement with the fact that, in that case, $p_{\rm max}$ is related to a non-compact free-boson partition function in dimension 1+1.

Higgs mode and its decay in a two-dimensional antiferromagnet

Condensed-matter analogs of the Higgs boson in particle physics allow insights into its behavior in different symmetries and dimensionalities. Evidence for the Higgs mode has been reported in a number of different settings, including ultracold atomic gases, disordered superconductors, and dimerized quantum magnets. However, decay processes of the Higgs mode (which are eminently important in particle physics) have not yet been studied in condensed matter due to the lack of a suitable material system coupled to a direct experimental probe. A quantitative understanding of these processes is particularly important for low-dimensional systems where the Higgs mode decays rapidly and has remained elusive to most experimental probes. Here, we discover and study the Higgs mode in a two-dimensional antiferromagnet using spin-polarized inelastic neutron scattering. Our spin-wave spectra of Ca$_2$RuO$_4$ directly reveal a well-defined, dispersive Higgs mode, which quickly decays into transverse Goldstone modes at the antiferromagnetic ordering wavevector. Through a complete mapping of the transverse modes in the reciprocal space, we uniquely specify the minimal model Hamiltonian and describe the decay process. We thus establish a novel condensed matter platform for research on the dynamics of the Higgs mode.