Unusual spin pseudogap behavior in the spin web lattice Cu$_3$TeO$_6$ probed by $^{125}$Te nuclear magnetic resonance

TL;DR

This study uses $^{125}$Te NMR to reveal a spin-gap-like magnetic excitation and a structural phase transition in Cu$_3$TeO$_6$, a 3D spin web lattice with topological magnons, occurring below the magnetic ordering temperature.

Contribution

It uncovers a novel spin-gap behavior and a structural phase transition in Cu$_3$TeO$_6$, highlighting the interplay between lattice structure and magnetic excitations in a topological magnon system.

Findings

Detection of a structural phase transition at ~40 K within the magnetically ordered state.

Observation of spin-gap-like magnetic excitations setting in at ~75 K, above the Néel temperature.

Identification of weakly dispersive optical magnon branches from the Cu hexagon network.

Abstract

We present a $^{125}$Te nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) study in the three-dimensional spin web lattice Cu$_3$TeO$_6$, which harbors topological magnons. The $^{125}$Te NMR spectra and the Knight shift $\mathcal{K}$ as a function of temperature show a drastic change at $T_\text{S}\sim 40$ K much lower than the N\'eel ordering temperature $T_\text{N}\sim 61$ K, providing evidence for the first-order structural phase transition within the magnetically ordered state. Most remarkably, the temperature dependence of the spin-lattice relaxation rate $T_1^{-1}$ unravels spin-gap-like magnetic excitations, which sharply sets in at $T^*\sim 75$ K, the temperature well above $T_\text{N}$. The spin gap behavior may be understood by weakly dispersive optical magnon branches of high-energy spin excitations originating from the unique corner-sharing Cu hexagon spin-1/2 network with low coordination number.