Frustrated Ising chains on the triangular lattice in Sr$_3$NiIrO$_6$

Abstract

Inelastic neutron scattering study on the spin-chain compound Sr$_3$NiIrO$_6$ reveals gapped quasi-1D magnetic excitations. The observed one-magnon band between 29.5 and 39 meV consists of magnon modes of the Ni$^{2+}$ ions. The fitting of the spin wave spectrum reveals strongly coupled Ising-like chains along the $c$-axis that are weakly coupled into a frustrated triangular lattice in the $ab$-plane. The magnetic excitations survive up to 200 K well above the magnetic ordering temperature of $T_N \sim 75$ K, also indicating a quasi-1D nature of the magnetic interactions in Sr$_3$NiIrO$_6$. Our microscopic model is in good agreement with ab initio electronic structure calculations and explains the giant spin flip field observed in bulk magnetization measurements.