Dynamics of linarite: observations of magnetic excitations

Here we present inelastic neutron scattering measurements from the frustrated, quantum spin-1/2 chain material linarite, PbCuSO4(OH)2. Time of flight data, taken at 0.5 K and zero applied magnetic field reveals low-energy dispersive spin wave excitations below 1.5 meV both parallel and perpendicular to the Cu-chain direction. From this we confirm that the interchain couplings within linarite are around 10% of the nearest neighbor intrachain interactions. We analyze the data within both linear spin-wave theory and density matrix renormalization group theories and establish the main magnetic exchange interactions and the simplest realistic Hamiltonian for this material. ©2017 American Physical Society.

Keywords

Magnetism, Dynamics, Spin, Chains, Copper, Lead, Magnetic fields, Exchange interactions, Antiferromagnetism

Citation

Rule, K. C., Willenberg, B., Schäpers, M., Wolter, A. U. B., Büchner, B., Drechsler, S. L., Ehlers, G., Tennant, D. A., Mole, R. A., Gardner, J. S., Süllow, S., & Nishimoto, S. (2017). Dynamics of linarite: observations of magnetic excitations. Physical Review B, 95(2), 024430. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.95.024430