Square-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet with two kinds of nearest-neighbor regular bonds

Abstract

We study the zero-temperature phase diagram of a square-lattice $S=1/2$ Heisenberg antiferromagnet with two types of regularly distributed nearest-neighbor exchange constants, $J_1>0$ (antiferromagnetic) and $-\infty < J_2 < \infty $, using spin-wave series based on appropriate mean-field Hamiltonian and exact-diagonalization data for small clusters. At a quasiclassical level, the model displays two critical points separating the Néel state from (i) a helicoidal magnetic phase for relatively small frustrating ferromagnetic couplings $J_2<0$ ($J_2/J_1<-1/3$ for classical spins), and (ii) a finite-gap quantum paramagnetic phase for large enough antiferromagnetic exchange constants $J_2>0$. The quantum order-disorder transition (ii) is similar to the one recently studied in two-layer Heisenberg antiferromagnets and is a pure result of the zero-point spin fluctuations. On the other hand, the melting of the Néel state in the ferromagnetic region, $J_2<0$, is a combined effect of the frustration and quantum spin fluctuations. The second-order spin-wave calculations of the ground-state energy and on-site magnetization are in accord with our exact diagonalization data in a range away from the quantum paramagnetic phase. In approaching the phase boundary, the theory fails due to the enhanced longitudinal spin fluctuations, as it has recently been argued by Chubukov and Morr.