Incommensurate quantum magnet based on 4f-electron in a zigzag spin-1/2
chain of YbCuS$_2$
Incommensurate quantum magnet based on 4f-electron in a zigzag spin-1/2
chain of YbCuS$_2$
We performed high-resolution powder neutron diffraction experiments and discovered an elliptic helical incommensurate magnetic structure in the semiconducting rare-earth magnet YbCuS2, featuring effective spin-1/2 Yb$^{3+}$ ions that form a zigzag chain. Upon cooling the sample to 0.2 K, we observed very weak magnetic peaks indexed with an incommensurate propagation vector …