skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: The derivation of effective spin Hamiltonians and the origin of the magnetic field induced transition in orthormbic La sub 2 CuO sub 4

Conference ·
OSTI ID:5645396

La{sub 2}CuO{sub 4} undergoes a magnetic field induced transition in a field of {approx}5.7 Tesla at low temperatures. The origin of this transition is the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction which is present in effective spin Hamiltonians for systems of sufficiently low symmetry, and, which leads to weak ferromagnetism in the CuO planes in La{sub 2}CuO{sub 4}. It is shown here how this interaction depends on symmetry and how its form changes with structural phase transitions which occur in compounds closely related to La{sub 2}CuO{sub 4}. These different forms of the interaction lead to different properties in magnetic fields. I also discuss how the approach presented here of determining an effective spin Hamiltonian from symmetry is related to the determination of terms in the free expansion close to a second order phase transition. It is pointed out that the present approach may be extended to itinerant systems and 1 take UPt{sub 3} as an example. 28 refs., 4 figs.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-36
OSTI ID:
5645396
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-91-1680; CONF-9105151-5; ON: DE91013743
Resource Relation:
Conference: Physical phenomena at high magnetic fields, Tallahassee, FL (USA), 15-18 May 1991
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English