Magnon excitations in $Cs_2CuAl_4O_8$ - a bond alternating S=1/2 spin chain with next nearest neighbor coupling

Abstract

A recent density functional theory (DFT) based analysis, complemented with Quantum Monte Carlo calculations revealed a highly spin-frustrating nature of the one-dimensional spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ compound $Cs_2CuAl_4O_8$ that comprises of unique bond alternations and relatively strong next nearest neighbor interactions. This article gives a brief account on possible magnon excitations that can appear in the ground state of such systems. We find that the spin waves obtained on top of coplanar helical reference states show multiple magnon modes (both acoustic and optical). However, those magnon modes turn out to be stable only in the absence of bond alternations.