Lattice Dynamics Coupled to Charge and Spin Degrees of Freedom in the Molecular Dimer-Mott Insulator κ − ( BEDT − TTF ) 2 Cu [ N ( CN ) 2 ] Cl

2019 
: Inelastic neutron scattering measurements on the molecular dimer-Mott insulator κ-(BEDT-TTF)_{2}Cu[N(CN)_{2}]Cl reveal a phonon anomaly in a wide temperature range. Starting from T_{ins}∼50-60  K where the charge gap opens, the low-lying optical phonon modes become overdamped upon cooling towards the antiferromagnetic ordering temperature T_{N}=27  K, where also a ferroelectric ordering at T_{FE}≈T_{N} occurs. Conversely, the phonon damping becomes small again when spins and charges are ordered below T_{N}, while no change of the lattice symmetry is observed across T_{N} in neutron diffraction measurements. We assign the phonon anomalies to structural fluctuations coupled to charge and spin degrees of freedom in the BEDT-TTF molecules.
    • Correction
    • Source
    • Cite
    • Save
    • Machine Reading By IdeaReader
    42
    References
    9
    Citations
    NaN
    KQI
    []