Two-stage spin-flop transitions are observed the in quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnet, BaCu2Si2O7. A magnetic field applied along the easy axis induces a spin-flop transition at 2.0 T followed by a second transition at 4.9 T. The magnetic susceptibility indicates the presence of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) antisymmetric interactions between the intrachain neighboring spins. We discuss a possible mechanism whereby the geometrical competition between DM and interchain interactions, as discussed for the two-dimensional antiferromagnet La2CuO4, causes the two-stage spin-flop transitions.
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0107328,
title = {Two-stage spin-flop transitions in S = 1/2 antiferromagnetic spin chain BaCu_2Si_2O_7},
author = {I. Tsukada and J. Takeya and T. Masuda and K. Uchinokura},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0107328},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
5 pages, 3 figures (included), accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett