Structure of the magnetic excitations in the spin-1/2 triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet Ba3CoSb2O9

Saya Ito, Nobuyuki Kurita, Hidekazu Tanaka (), Seiko Ohira-Kawamura, Kenji Nakajima, Shinichi Itoh, Keitaro Kuwahara and Kazuhisa Kakurai
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Saya Ito: Tokyo Institute of Technology, Oh-okayama
Nobuyuki Kurita: Tokyo Institute of Technology, Oh-okayama
Hidekazu Tanaka: Tokyo Institute of Technology, Oh-okayama
Seiko Ohira-Kawamura: J-PARC Center
Kenji Nakajima: J-PARC Center
Shinichi Itoh: Institute of Materials Structure Science, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization
Keitaro Kuwahara: Ibaraki University
Kazuhisa Kakurai: Comprehensive Research Organization for Science and Society (CROSS)

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-6

Abstract: Abstract A spin-1/2 triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet (TLHAF) is a prototypical frustrated quantum magnet, which exhibits remarkable quantum many-body effects that arise from the synergy between spin frustration and quantum fluctuation. The ground-state properties of a spin-1/2 TLHAF are theoretically well understood. However, the theoretical consensus regarding the magnetic excitations is limited. The experimental study of the magnetic excitations in spin-1/2 TLHAFs has also been limited. Here we show the structure of magnetic excitations in the spin-1/2 TLHAF Ba3CoSb2O9 investigated by inelastic neutron scattering. Significantly different from theoretical expectations, the excitation spectrum has a three-stage energy structure. The lowest-energy first stage is composed of dispersion branches of single-magnon excitations. The second and third stages are dispersive continua accompanied by a columnar continuum extending above 10 meV, which is six times larger than the exchange interaction J = 1.67 meV. Our results indicate the shortcomings of the current theoretical framework.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00316-x

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