Structure of the incommensurate phase of the quantum magnet TiOCl

Title data

Schönleber, Andreas ; van Smaalen, Sander ; Palatinus, Lukas:
Structure of the incommensurate phase of the quantum magnet TiOCl.
In: Physical Review B. Vol. 73 (2006) Issue 21 . - No. 214410.
ISSN 0163-1829
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.73.214410

Project information

Abstract in another language

The incommensurately modulated structure is reported for the low-dimensional spin-1∕2 quantum magnet TiOCl. On the basis of an analysis of the structural distortions in the spin-Peierls state (stable below Tc1=67K) and in the incommensurate phase (stable between Tc1 and Tc2=90K), it is argued that both the incommensurability and the twofold superstructure at low temperatures are the result of frustration between a spin-Peierls pairing on chains of Ti atoms as driving force and elastic coupling between neighboring chains mediated by the oxygen atoms.