Anisotropic spin model of strong spin-orbit-coupled triangular antiferromagnets

Abstract

© 2016 American Physical Society. Motivated by the recent experimental progress on the strong spin-orbit-coupled rare-earth triangular antiferromagnet, we analyze the highly anisotropic spin model that describes the interaction between the spin-orbit-entangled Kramers' doublet local moments on the triangular lattice. We apply the Luttinger-Tisza method, the classical Monte Carlo simulation, and the self-consistent spin wave theory to analyze the anisotropic spin Hamiltonian. The classical phase diagram includes the 120 state and two distinct stripe-ordered phases. The frustration is very strong and significantly suppresses the ordering temperature in the regimes close to the phase boundary between two ordered phases. Going beyond the semiclassical analysis, we include the quantum fluctuations of the spin moments within a self-consistent Dyson-Maleev spin-wave treatment. We find that the strong quantum fluctuations melt the magnetic order in the frustrated regions. We explore the magnetic excitations in the three different ordered phases as well as in strong magnetic fields. Our results provide a guidance for the future theoretical study of the generic model and are broadly relevant for strong spin-orbit-coupled triangular antiferromagnets such as YbMgGaO4, RCd3P3, RZn3P3, RCd3As3, RZn3As3, and R2O2CO3.