Nelly Natsch^1*, Tara Tošić¹, Jian-Rui Soh², Nicola Spaldin¹

1 Materials Theory, ETH Zürich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27, 8093 Zürrich, Switzerland

2 A*STAR Quantum Innovation Centre (Q.InC), Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR), 2 Fusionopolis Way, Singapore 138634

* Corresponding authors emails: nelly.natsch@gmx.ch

DOI10.24435/materialscloud:kp-8f [version v1]

Publication date: May 07, 2025

How to cite this record

Nelly Natsch, Tara Tošić, Jian-Rui Soh, Nicola Spaldin, Paramagnetic half-moon shaped diffuse scattering arising from 3D magnetic frustration, Materials Cloud Archive 2025.71 (2025), https://doi.org/10.24435/materialscloud:kp-8f

Description

We use spin dynamics simulations to determine the origin of the unusual correlated diffuse scattering, characterised by half-moon shapes bridging the magnetic Bragg peaks, observed in the polarised elastic neutron scattering from manganese tungstate, MnWO₄. We first fit a Heisenberg Hamiltonian with twelve nearest-neighbour exchange interactions and single-ion anisotropy to the experimental ground-state magnon dispersion. We then show via spin dynamics simulations that our model Hamiltonian both reproduces the experimentally observed half-moon features and captures their persistence into the paramagnetic regime. Moreover, we identify the three-dimensional, competing antiferromagnetic interactions driving this behavior. Our work complements earlier studies of half-moon-shaped signatures in pyrochlore and triangular structures, by providing insight into their origin in a zigzag chain geometry with three-dimensional competing exchange interactions.

Materials Cloud sections using this data

Files

File name	Size	Description
Fig_1_b_c.zip MD5md5:aa3841d1f4b7be0718f4cf502ff12a9f	14.6 MiB	UppASD input and output files for Fig. 1 b and c.
Fig_3.zip MD5md5:9520e07c20ddde03d70f42770ec7890c	25.8 MiB	UppASD input and output files for Fig. 3.
Fig_5.zip MD5md5:c2080da562d727f4651f863e0c7a040e	49.0 MiB	UppASD input and output files for Fig. 5.
S_Fig_7_and_Fig_9.zip MD5md5:eb1da6949f380e604eb8610030a2d924	19.1 MiB	UppASD input and output files for Fig. 7 and 9.
S_Fig_8.zip MD5md5:882a8405d098dc5dec4bf09b31825c56	8.8 MiB	UppASD input and output files for Fig. 8.

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External references

Keywords

ERC diffuse scattering spin dynamics Horizon Europe UppASD