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arXiv · 1206.2972

Evidence of a bond-nematic phase in LiCuVO4

M. Mourigal·M. Enderle·B. Fåk·R. K. Kremer·J. M. Law·A. Schneidewind·A. Hiess·A. Prokofiev
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Abstract

Polarized and unpolarized neutron scattering experiments on the frustrated ferromagnetic spin-1/2 chain LiCuVO4 show that the phase transition at HQ of 8 Tesla is driven by quadrupolar fluctuations and that dipolar correlations are short-range with moments parallel to the applied magnetic field in the high-field phase. Heat-capacity measurements evidence a phase transition into this high-field phase, with an anomaly clearly different from that at low magnetic fields. Our experimental data are consistent with a picture where the ground state above HQ has a next-nearest neighbour bond-nematic order along the chains with a fluid-like coherence between weakly coupled chains.

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M. Mourigal, M. Enderle, B. Fåk, R. K. Kremer, J. M. Law, A. Schneidewind, A. Hiess, A. Prokofiev. 2012-06-14. Evidence of a bond-nematic phase in LiCuVO4. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.109.027203

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