Field-induced Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid phase of a two-leg spin-1/2 ladder with strong leg interactions

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Physical Review Letters

OSTI ID:989131

Kim, Y. H. ^[1]; Hotta, C. ^[2]; Takano, Y. ^[1]; Tremelling, G. ^[3]; Turnbull, M. M. ^[3]; Landee, C. ^[3]; Kang, H. -J. ^[4]; Christensen, N. B. ^[5]; Lefmann, K. ^[6]; Schmidt, K. P. ^[7]; Uhrig, G. S. ^[7]; Broholm, C. ^[8]

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1. University of Florida, Gainesville
2. Kyoto Sangyo University
3. Clark University
4. NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCRN), Gaithersburg, MD
5. Laboratory for Neutron Scattering ETHZ & PSI
6. Riso National Laboratory, Roskilde, Denmark
7. Technische Universit Dortmund, Germany
8. Johns Hopkins University

We study the magnetic-field-induced quantum phase transition from a gapped quantum phase that has no magnetic long-range order into a gapless phase in the spin-1/2 ladder compound bis(2,3-dimethylpyridinium) tetrabromocuprate (DIMPY). At temperatures below about 1 K, the specific heat in the gapless phase attains an asymptotic linear temperature dependence, characteristic of a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid. Inelastic neutron scattering and the specific heat measurements in both phases are in good agreement with theoretical calculations, demonstrating that DIMPY is the first model material for an S=1/2 two-leg spin ladder in the strong-leg regime.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 989131
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 13; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
NEUTRONS
SCATTERING
SPECIFIC HEAT
SPIN
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE