Abstract
In the lacunar spinel GaV4S8, the interplay of spin, charge, and orbital degrees of freedom produces a rich phase diagram that includes an unusual Néel-type skyrmion phase composed of molecular spins. To provide insight into the interactions underlying this complex phase diagram, we study the spin excitations in GaV4S8 through inelastic neutron scattering measurements on polycrystalline and single crystal samples. Using linear spin wave theory, we describe the spin wave excitations using a model where V4 clusters decorate an fcc lattice. The effective cluster model includes a ferromagnetic interaction and a weaker antisymmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction between the neighboring molecular spins. Our work clarifies the spin interactions in GaV4S8 and supports the picture of interacting molecular clusters.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 224425 |
| Journal | Physical Review B |
| Volume | 104 |
| Issue number | 22 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1 2021 |
Funding
We thank C. Batista for useful discussions. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. G.P. acknowledges partial support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundations EPiQS Initiative Grant No. GBMF4416. G.P. also acknowledges support from UC Santa Barbara Quantum foundry through NSF DMR-1906325. H.S.A. acknowledges support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's EPiQS Initiative Grant No. GBMF9069. This research used resources at the Spallation Neutron Source and the High Flux Isotope Reactor, a Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Access to MACS was provided by the Center for High Resolution Neutron Scattering, a partnership between the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Science Foundation under Agreement No. DMR-1508249. This manuscript has been authored by UTBattelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan . We thank C. Batista for useful discussions. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. G.P. acknowledges partial support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundations EPiQS Initiative Grant No. GBMF4416. G.P. also acknowledges support from UC Santa Barbara Quantum foundry through NSF DMR-1906325. H.S.A. acknowledges support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's EPiQS Initiative Grant No. GBMF9069. This research used resources at the Spallation Neutron Source and the High Flux Isotope Reactor, a Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Access to MACS was provided by the Center for High Resolution Neutron Scattering, a partnership between the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Science Foundation under Agreement No. DMR-1508249. This manuscript has been authored by UTBattelle, LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| DOE Public Access Plan | |
| UC Santa Barbara Quantum foundry | |
| United States Government | |
| National Science Foundation | DMR-1508249, DE-AC05-00OR22725, DMR-1906325 |
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| National Institute of Standards and Technology | |
| Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation | GBMF9069, GBMF4416 |
| Office of Science | |
| Basic Energy Sciences | |
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory | |
| Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering |