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Direct measurement of the spin gap in a quasi-one-dimensional clinopyroxene: NaTiSi2O6

Harlyn J. Silverstein, Alison E. Smith, Cole Mauws, Douglas L. Abernathy, Haidong Zhou, Zhiling Dun, Johan van Lierop, and Christopher R. Wiebe
Phys. Rev. B 90, 140402(R) – Published 13 October 2014

Abstract

True inorganic spin-Peierls materials are extremely rare, but NaTiSi2O6 was at one time considered to be an ideal candidate owing to its well separated chains of edge-sharing TiO6 octahedra. At low temperatures, this material undergoes a phase transition from C2/c to P1¯ symmetry, where Ti3+Ti3+ dimers begin to form within the chains. However, it was quickly realized with magnetic susceptibility that simple spin fluctuations do not progress to the point of enabling such a transition. Since then, considerable experimental and theoretical endeavors have been undertaken to find the true ground state of this system and explain how it manifests. Here, we employ the use of x-ray diffraction, neutron spectroscopy, and magnetic susceptibility to directly and simultaneously measure the symmetry loss, spin singlet-triplet gap, and phonon modes. A gap of 53(3) meV was observed, fit to the magnetic susceptibility, and compared to previous theoretical models to unambiguously assign NaTiSi2O6 as having an orbital-assisted Peierls ground state.

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  • Received 26 June 2014
  • Revised 9 September 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.140402

©2014 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Harlyn J. Silverstein1, Alison E. Smith2, Cole Mauws2, Douglas L. Abernathy3, Haidong Zhou4,5, Zhiling Dun4, Johan van Lierop6, and Christopher R. Wiebe1,2,7

  • 1Department of Chemistry, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2N2
  • 2Department of Chemistry, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3B 2E9
  • 3Quantum Condensed Matter Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6475, USA
  • 4Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1220, USA
  • 5National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-4005, USA
  • 6Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2N2
  • 7Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4M1

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Issue

Vol. 90, Iss. 14 — 1 October 2014

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