# Impurities in weakly coupled quantum spin chains Sr$_{2}$CuO$_{3}$ and SrCuO$_{2}$

## TL;DR

This study investigates how non-magnetic and magnetic impurities affect the ground state and excitations in quasi-one-dimensional spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnets Sr$_{2}$CuO$_{3}$ and SrCuO$_{2}$, revealing impurity-specific effects on spin gaps and magnetic ordering.

## Contribution

It provides new insights into impurity effects on spin excitations and magnetic order in weakly coupled quantum spin chains, highlighting differences between non-magnetic and magnetic doping.

## Key findings

- Ni doping induces a spin gap in Sr$_{2}$CuO$_{3}$.
- Zn doping does not induce a spin gap in SrCuO$_{2}$.
- Magnetic ordering temperature is suppressed more by Ni than by Zn doping.

## Abstract

We study the effect of non-magnetic Zn$^{2+}$ (spin-$0$) and magnetic Ni$^{2+}$ (spin-$1$) impurities on the ground state and low-lying excitations of the quasi-one-dimensional spin-$1/2$ Heisenberg antiferromagnet Sr$_{2}$CuO$_{3}$ using inelastic neutron scattering, specific heat and bulk magnetization measurements. We show that 1 \% Ni$^{2+}$ doping in Sr$_2$CuO$_3$ results in a sizable spin gap in the spinon excitations, analogous to the case of Ni-doped SrCuO$_2$ previously reported [ref. 1]. However, a similar level of Zn$^{2+}$ doping in SrCuO$_2$, investigated here for comparison, did not reveal any signs of a spin gap. Magnetic ordering temperature was found to be suppressed in the presence of both Zn$^{2+}$ and Ni$^{2+}$ impurities, however, the rate of suppression due to Ni$^{2+}$ was found to be much more pronounced than for Zn$^{2+}$. Effect of magnetic field on the ordering temperature is investigated. We found that with increasing magnetic field, not only the magnetic ordering temperature gradually increases but the size of specific heat anomaly associated with the magnetic ordering also progressively enhances, which can be qualitatively understood as due to the field induced suppression of quantum fluctuations.