Spin wave Hamiltonian and anomalous scattering in <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:msub><mml:mi>NiPS</mml:mi><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:msub></mml:math>
Allen Scheie, Pyeongjae Park, John W. Villanova, G. E. Granroth, C. L. Sarkis, Hao Zhang, M. B. Stone, Je‐Geun Park, Satoshi Okamoto, Tom Berlijn, D. M. Tennant
Abstract
Magnetic van der Waals materials have many proposed technological uses, but predicting their behavior requires understanding their magnetic interactions. Here, the authors present a comprehensive study of the spin exchange Hamiltonian of semiconducting magnet NiPS${}_{3}$. Using inelastic neutron scattering and first-principles density functional theory calculations, the authors derive a spin-exchange Hamiltonian able to explain spin excitations observed with other probes. Comparing semiclassical simulations against the experimental neutron spectrum reveals an anomalous suppression of low-energy magnetism in NiPS${}_{3}$, signaling nontrivial physics lurking in its ground state.