Solitonic lattice and Yukawa forces in the rare-earth orthoferrite TbFeO³

TY - JOUR

T1 - Solitonic lattice and Yukawa forces in the rare-earth orthoferrite TbFeO3

AU - Artyukhin, Sergey

AU - Mostovoy, Maxim

AU - Jensen, N.P.

AU - Le, Duc

AU - Prokes, K.

AU - de paula, V.G.

AU - Bordallo, Heloisa N.

AU - Maljuk, A.

AU - Landsgesell, S.

AU - Ryll, H.

AU - Klemke, B.

AU - Paeckel, S.

AU - Kiefer, K.

AU - Lefmann, Kim

AU - Kuhn, Luise T.

AU - Argyriou, D.N.

PY - 2012/8

Y1 - 2012/8

N2 - The random fluctuations of spins give rise to many interesting physical phenomena, such as the ‘order-from-disorder’ arising in frustrated magnets and unconventional Cooper pairing in magnetic superconductors. Here we show that the exchange of spin waves between extended topological defects, such as domain walls, can result in novel magnetic states. We report the discovery of an unusual incommensurate phase in the orthoferrite TbFeO3 using neutron diffraction under an applied magnetic field. The magnetic modulation has a very long period of 340¿Å at 3¿K and exhibits an anomalously large number of higher-order harmonics. These domain walls are formed by Ising-like Tb spins. They interact by exchanging magnons propagating through the Fe magnetic sublattice. The resulting force between the domain walls has a rather long range that determines the period of the incommensurate state and is analogous to the pion-mediated Yukawa interaction between protons and neutrons in nuclei.

AB - The random fluctuations of spins give rise to many interesting physical phenomena, such as the ‘order-from-disorder’ arising in frustrated magnets and unconventional Cooper pairing in magnetic superconductors. Here we show that the exchange of spin waves between extended topological defects, such as domain walls, can result in novel magnetic states. We report the discovery of an unusual incommensurate phase in the orthoferrite TbFeO3 using neutron diffraction under an applied magnetic field. The magnetic modulation has a very long period of 340¿Å at 3¿K and exhibits an anomalously large number of higher-order harmonics. These domain walls are formed by Ising-like Tb spins. They interact by exchanging magnons propagating through the Fe magnetic sublattice. The resulting force between the domain walls has a rather long range that determines the period of the incommensurate state and is analogous to the pion-mediated Yukawa interaction between protons and neutrons in nuclei.

U2 - 10.1038/nmat3358

DO - 10.1038/nmat3358

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 22728320

SN - 1476-1122

VL - 11

SP - 694

EP - 699

JO - Nature Materials

JF - Nature Materials

IS - 8

ER -