Magnetic ground state and excitations in mixed 3$d$-4$d$ quasi-1D spin-chain oxide Sr${}_3$NiRhO${}_6$

Abstract

Entanglement of spin and orbital degrees of freedom, via relativistic spin-orbit coupling, in 4$d$ transition metal oxides can give rise to a variety of novel quantum phases. A previous study of mixed 3$d$-4$d$ quasi-1D spin-chain oxide Sr${}_3$NiRhO${}_6$ using the magnetization measurements by Mohapatra et al. [Phys. Rev. B 75, 214422 (2007)] revealed a partially disordered antiferromagnetic (PDA) structure below 50 K [Mohapatra et al, Phys. Rev. B 75, 214422 (2007)]. We here report the magnetic ground state and spin-wave excitations in Sr${}_3$NiRhO${}_6$, using muon spin rotation and relaxation ($\mu$SR), and neutron (elastic and inelastic) scattering techniques. Our neutron diffraction study reveals that in the magnetic structure of Sr${}_3$NiRhO${}_6$, Rh${}^{4+}$ and Ni${}^{2+}$ spins are aligned ferromagnetically in a spin-chain, with moments along the crystallographic $c$-axis. However, spin-chains are coupled antiferromanetically in the $ab$-plane. $\mu$SR reveals the presence of oscillations in the asymmetry-time spectra below 50 K, supporting the long-range magnetically ordered ground state. Our inelastic neutron scattering study reveals gapped quasi-1D magnetic excitations with a large ratio of gap to exchange interaction. The observed spin-wave spectrum could be well fitted with a ferromagnetic isotropic exchange model (with $J=3.7$ meV) and single ion anisotropy ($D=10$ meV) on the Ni${}^{2+}$ site. The magnetic excitations survive up to 85 K, well above the magnetic ordering temperature of $\sim 50$ K, also indicating a quasi-1D nature of the magnetic interactions in Sr${}_3$NiRhO${}_6$.

13 pages, 13 figures

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