Magnetic order and ballistic spin transport in a sine-Gordon spin chain

Journal article : Letter

We report the results of muon-spin spectroscopy (μ+SR) measurements on the staggered molecular spin chain [pym-Cu(NO3)2(H2O)2] (pym = pyrimidine), a material previously described using sine-Gordon field theory. Zero-field μ+SR reveals a long range magnetically ordered ground state below a transition temperature TN=0.23(1) K. Using longitudinal-field (LF) μ+SR we investigate the dynamic response in applied magnetic fields 0 < B < 500 mT and find evidence for ballistic spin transport. Our LF μ+SR measurements on the chiral spin chain [Cu(pym)(H2O)4]SiF6⋅H2O instead demonstrate one-dimensional spin diffusion, and the distinct spin transport in these two systems suggests that additional anisotropic interactions play an important role in determining the nature of spin transport in S=1/2 antiferromagnetic chains.

Authors: Huddart, BM; Gomilšek, M; Hicken, TJ; Pratt, FL; Blundell, SJ

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Journal: Physical Review B
• Volume: 103
• Issue: 6
• Article number: L060405
• Publication date: 2021-02-15
• Acceptance date: 2021-01-25
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.103.L060405
• EISSN: 2469-9969
• ISSN: 2469-9950
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR
• Subtype: Letter