Field-Induced Local Excitations Causing Zero-Magnetization Plateaus in Antiferromagnets of Antiferromagnetic Spin Dimers Under Magnetic Field

TL;DR

This study investigates the origin of zero-magnetization plateaus in certain antiferromagnets with spin dimers, combining spectral analysis and specific heat measurements to understand field-induced local excitations.

Contribution

It reveals how magnetic fields induce local excitations leading to zero-magnetization plateaus in antiferromagnetic spin dimer systems, supported by experimental data.

Findings

Zero-magnetization plateau observed despite negligible single-ion anisotropy.

Magnetic field influences the energy spectrum of spin dimer chains.

Specific heat measurements confirm field-induced local excitations.

Abstract

Certain antiferromagnets composed of antiferromagnetic spin dimers exhibit a zero-magnetization plateau despite that the single-ion anisotropy of their magnetic ions is negligible. The cause for this observation was investigated by analyzing how a magnetic field affects the energy spectrum of an antiferromagnetic chain composed of antiferromagnetic spin dimers made up of two spin-half ions and by carrying out specific heat measurements for potassium copper chloride as a function magnetic field at 2 K.