Vector chiral spin liquid phase in quasi-one-dimensional incommensurate helimagnets

Making use of detailed classical Monte Carlo simulations, we study the critical properties of a two-dimensional planar spin model on a square lattice composed by weakly interacting helimagnetic chains. We find a large temperature window where the vector chirality order parameter, = , the key quanti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. B, Condensed matter and materials physics Condensed matter and materials physics, 2011-05, Vol.83 (17), Article 174415
Main Authors: Cinti, Fabio, Cuccoli, Alessandro, Rettori, Angelo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ANGULAR MOMENTUM
BASIC INTERACTIONS
CALCULATION METHODS
CHAINS
CHIRALITY
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
COUPLING
CRYSTAL LATTICES
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
DECOUPLING
DIAGRAMS
DIMENSIONLESS NUMBERS
FLUIDS
INFORMATION
INTERACTIONS
LIQUIDS
MAGNETIC MATERIALS
MATERIALS
MONTE CARLO METHOD
ORDER PARAMETERS
PARTICLE PROPERTIES
PHASE DIAGRAMS
SIMULATION
SPIN
TETRAGONAL LATTICES
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
WEAK INTERACTIONS
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Summary:Making use of detailed classical Monte Carlo simulations, we study the critical properties of a two-dimensional planar spin model on a square lattice composed by weakly interacting helimagnetic chains. We find a large temperature window where the vector chirality order parameter, = , the key quantity in multiferroic systems, takes nonzero value in the absence of long-range order or quasi-long-range order. The phase diagram we obtain for different strengths of the interchain coupling clearly shows that the weakness of the interchain interaction plays an essential role in order to observe the vector chiral spin liquid phase in a temperature range of up to now unattained width ({approx_equal}7%, to be compared with {approx_equal}1% or less previously reported for fully frustrated models, the only well-investigated systems unambiguously displaying spin-chirality decoupling). The relevance of our results for three-dimensional models is also discussed.
ISSN:1098-0121
1550-235X
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.83.174415