Mesoscopic Phase Coherence in a Quantum Spin Fluid
Strongly Correlated Electrons
2009-11-13 v2
Abstract
Mesoscopic quantum phase coherence is important because it improves the prospects for handling quantum degrees of freedom in technology. Here we show that the development of such coherence can be monitored using magnetic neutron scattering from a one-dimensional spin chain Y2BaNiO5, a quantum spin fluid where no classical, static magnetic order is present. In the cleanest samples, the quantum coherence length is 20 nm, almost an order of magnitude larger than the classical antiferromagnetic correlation length of 3 nm. We also demonstrate that the coherence length can be modified by static and thermally activated defects in a quantitatively predictable manner.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0804.0211,
title = {Mesoscopic Phase Coherence in a Quantum Spin Fluid},
author = {Guangyong Xu and C. Broholm and Yeong-Ah Soh and G. Aeppli and J. F. DiTusa and Ying Chen and M. Kenzelmann and C. D. Frost and T. Ito and K. Oka and H. Takagi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0804.0211},
year = {2009}
}