Spin-current order in anisotropic triangular antiferromagnets
Abstract
We analyze instabilities of the collinear up-up-down state of a two-dimensional quantum spin-S spatially anisotropic triangular lattice antiferromagnet in a magnetic field. We find, within large-S approximation, that near the end point of the plateau, the collinear state becomes unstable due to condensation of two-magnon bound pairs rather than single magnons. The two-magnon instability leads to a novel 2D vector chiral phase with alternating spin currents but no magnetic order in the direction transverse to the field. This phase breaks a discrete Z_2 symmetry but preserves a continuous U(1) one of rotations about the field axis. It possesses orbital antiferromagnetism and displays a magnetoelectric effect.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1303.3519,
title = {Spin-current order in anisotropic triangular antiferromagnets},
author = {Andrey V. Chubukov and Oleg A. Starykh},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1303.3519},
year = {2013}
}
Comments
4+5 pages, 3 figures; (v2) corrected eq.(9) and several related equations in the Supplementary Material