Magnetostriction-Driven Muon Localization in an Antiferromagnetic Oxide.
Phys Rev Lett
; 132(4): 046701, 2024 Jan 26.
Article
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| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38335330
ABSTRACT
Magnetostriction results from the coupling between magnetic and elastic degrees of freedom. Though it is associated with a relatively small energy, we show that it plays an important role in determining the site of an implanted muon, so that the energetically favorable site can switch on crossing a magnetic phase transition. This surprising effect is demonstrated in the cubic rocksalt antiferromagnet MnO which undergoes a magnetostriction-driven rhombohedral distortion at the Néel temperature T_{N}=118 K. Above T_{N}, the muon becomes delocalized around a network of equivalent sites, but below T_{N} the distortion lifts the degeneracy between these equivalent sites. Our first-principles simulations based on Hubbard-corrected density-functional theory and molecular dynamics are consistent with the experimental data and help to resolve a long-standing puzzle regarding muon data on MnO, as well as having wider applicability to other magnetic oxides.
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01-internacional
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MEDLINE
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En
Revista:
Phys Rev Lett
Año:
2024
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Article
País de afiliación:
Italia