Magnon spectrum of the helimagnetic insulator Cu2OSeO3

P. Y. Portnichenko; J. Romhányi; Y. A. Onykiienko; A. Henschel; M. Schmidt; A. S. Cameron; M. A. Surmach; J. A. Lim; J. T. Park; A. Schneidewind; D. L. Abernathy; H. Rosner; Jeroen Van Den Brink; D. S. Inosov

doi:10.1038/ncomms10725

Magnon spectrum of the helimagnetic insulator Cu₂OSeO₃

P. Y. Portnichenko, J. Romhányi, Y. A. Onykiienko, A. Henschel, M. Schmidt, A. S. Cameron, M. A. Surmach, J. A. Lim, J. T. Park, A. Schneidewind, D. L. Abernathy, H. Rosner, Jeroen Van Den Brink, D. S. Inosov

Direct Geometry

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39 Scopus citations

Abstract

Complex low-temperature-ordered states in chiral magnets are typically governed by a competition between multiple magnetic interactions. The chiral-lattice multiferroic Cu₂OSeO₃ became the first insulating helimagnetic material in which a long-range order of topologically stable spin vortices known as skyrmions was established. Here we employ state-of-the-art inelastic neutron scattering to comprehend the full three-dimensional spin-excitation spectrum of Cu₂OSeO₃ over a broad range of energies. Distinct types of high- and low-energy dispersive magnon modes separated by an extensive energy gap are observed in excellent agreement with the previously suggested microscopic theory based on a model of entangled Cu₄ tetrahedra. The comparison of our neutron spectroscopy data with model spin-dynamical calculations based on these theoretical proposals enables an accurate quantitative verification of the fundamental magnetic interactions in Cu₂OSeO₃ that are essential for understanding its abundant low-temperature magnetically ordered phases.

Original language	English
Article number	10725
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10725
State	Published - Feb 25 2016

Funding

We thank S. Zherlitsyn and Y. Gritsenko for sound velocity measurements that assisted our data interpretation and M. Rotter for helpful discussions at the start of this project. The work at the TU Dresden was financially supported by the German Research Foundation within the collaborative research centre SFB 1143, research training group GRK 1621, and the individual research grant no. IN 209/4-1. J.R. acknowledges partial funding from the Hungarian OTKA Grant K106047. Research at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source was sponsored by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, the US Department of Energy.

Funders	Funder number
Scientific User Facilities Division
U.S. Department of Energy
Basic Energy Sciences
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft	IN 209/4-1, SFB 1143
Hungarian Scientific Research Fund	K106047

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title = "Magnon spectrum of the helimagnetic insulator Cu2OSeO3",

abstract = "Complex low-temperature-ordered states in chiral magnets are typically governed by a competition between multiple magnetic interactions. The chiral-lattice multiferroic Cu2OSeO3 became the first insulating helimagnetic material in which a long-range order of topologically stable spin vortices known as skyrmions was established. Here we employ state-of-the-art inelastic neutron scattering to comprehend the full three-dimensional spin-excitation spectrum of Cu2OSeO3 over a broad range of energies. Distinct types of high- and low-energy dispersive magnon modes separated by an extensive energy gap are observed in excellent agreement with the previously suggested microscopic theory based on a model of entangled Cu4 tetrahedra. The comparison of our neutron spectroscopy data with model spin-dynamical calculations based on these theoretical proposals enables an accurate quantitative verification of the fundamental magnetic interactions in Cu2OSeO3 that are essential for understanding its abundant low-temperature magnetically ordered phases.",

author = "Portnichenko, {P. Y.} and J. Romh{\'a}nyi and Onykiienko, {Y. A.} and A. Henschel and M. Schmidt and Cameron, {A. S.} and Surmach, {M. A.} and Lim, {J. A.} and Park, {J. T.} and A. Schneidewind and Abernathy, {D. L.} and H. Rosner and {Van Den Brink}, Jeroen and Inosov, {D. S.}",

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AU - Portnichenko, P. Y.

AU - Romhányi, J.

AU - Onykiienko, Y. A.

AU - Henschel, A.

AU - Schmidt, M.

AU - Cameron, A. S.

AU - Surmach, M. A.

AU - Lim, J. A.

AU - Park, J. T.

AU - Schneidewind, A.

AU - Abernathy, D. L.

AU - Rosner, H.

AU - Van Den Brink, Jeroen

AU - Inosov, D. S.

PY - 2016/2/25

Y1 - 2016/2/25

N2 - Complex low-temperature-ordered states in chiral magnets are typically governed by a competition between multiple magnetic interactions. The chiral-lattice multiferroic Cu2OSeO3 became the first insulating helimagnetic material in which a long-range order of topologically stable spin vortices known as skyrmions was established. Here we employ state-of-the-art inelastic neutron scattering to comprehend the full three-dimensional spin-excitation spectrum of Cu2OSeO3 over a broad range of energies. Distinct types of high- and low-energy dispersive magnon modes separated by an extensive energy gap are observed in excellent agreement with the previously suggested microscopic theory based on a model of entangled Cu4 tetrahedra. The comparison of our neutron spectroscopy data with model spin-dynamical calculations based on these theoretical proposals enables an accurate quantitative verification of the fundamental magnetic interactions in Cu2OSeO3 that are essential for understanding its abundant low-temperature magnetically ordered phases.

AB - Complex low-temperature-ordered states in chiral magnets are typically governed by a competition between multiple magnetic interactions. The chiral-lattice multiferroic Cu2OSeO3 became the first insulating helimagnetic material in which a long-range order of topologically stable spin vortices known as skyrmions was established. Here we employ state-of-the-art inelastic neutron scattering to comprehend the full three-dimensional spin-excitation spectrum of Cu2OSeO3 over a broad range of energies. Distinct types of high- and low-energy dispersive magnon modes separated by an extensive energy gap are observed in excellent agreement with the previously suggested microscopic theory based on a model of entangled Cu4 tetrahedra. The comparison of our neutron spectroscopy data with model spin-dynamical calculations based on these theoretical proposals enables an accurate quantitative verification of the fundamental magnetic interactions in Cu2OSeO3 that are essential for understanding its abundant low-temperature magnetically ordered phases.

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Magnon spectrum of the helimagnetic insulator Cu₂OSeO₃

Abstract

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