Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging (LNS)

SANS-LLB instrument at SINQ close to performing first internal experiments

The extraordinary properties of the Kitaev model have motivated an intense search for new physics in materials that combine geometrical and bond frustration. In this Letter, we employ inelastic neutron scattering, spin wave theory, and exact diagonalization to study the spin dynamics in the perfect triangular-lattice antiferromagnet (TLAF) CsCeSe₂. This material orders into a stripe phase, which is demonstrated to arise as a consequence of the off-diagonal bond-dependent terms in the spin Hamiltonian ...

The recent discovery of superconductivity in infinite layer thin films and bulk Ruddlesden–Popper nickelates has stimulated the investigation of other predicted properties of these materials. Among them, the existence of magnetism-driven ferroelectricity in the parent compounds RNiO₃ (R = 4f lanthanide and Y) at the onset of the Néel order, T_N, has remained particularly elusive. Using diffraction techniques, we reveal here the existence of magnetostriction at T_N in bulk YNiO₃ single crystals. Interestingly, the associated lattice anomalies ...