Excitation spectrum and magnetic field effects in a quantum critical spin-orbital system: The case of FeSc2S4

Abstract

The orbitally degenerate A -site spinel compound FeSc2S4has been experimentally identified as a "spin-orbital liquid," with strong fluctuations of both spins and orbitals. Assuming that the second-neighbor spin-exchange J2is the dominant one, we argued in a recent theoretical study that FeSc2S4is in a local "spin-orbital singlet" state driven by spin-orbit coupling, close to a quantum critical point, which separates the spin-orbital singlet phase from a magnetically and orbitally ordered phase. In this paper, we refine further and develop this theory of FeSc2S4. First, we show that inclusion of a small first-neighbor exchange J1induces a narrow region of incommensurate phase near the quantum critical point. Next, we derive the phase diagram in the presence of an external magnetic field B, and show that the latter suppresses the ordered phase. Lastly, we compute the field-dependent dynamical magnetic susceptibility χ (k,ω;B), from which we extract a variety of physical quantities. Comparison with and suggestions for experiment are discussed. © 2009 The American Physical Society.