Neutron Scattering Studies of the Breathing Pyrochlore Antiferromagnet LiGaCr_{4}O_{8}

Phys Rev Lett. 2021 Oct 1;127(14):147205. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.147205.

Abstract

We report neutron scattering measurements of the spinel oxide LiGaCr_{4}O_{8}, in which magnetic ions Cr^{3+} form a breathing pyrochlore lattice. Our experiments reveal the coexistence of a nearly dispersionless resonance mode and dispersive spin-wave excitations in the magnetically ordered state, which can be quantitatively described by a quantum spin model of hexagonal loops and linear spin-wave theory with the same set of exchange parameters, respectively. Comparison to other Cr spinel oxides reveals a linear relationship between the resonance energy and lattice constant across all these materials, which is in agreement with our hexagonal loop calculations. Our results suggest a unified picture for spin resonances in Cr spinel oxides.