The field-induced soliton phase of CuGeO₃

The quasi-1D S = 1/2 antiferromagnet CuGeO3 undergoes a spin-Peierls transition to a dimerised singlet quantum ground state, with S = 1 carrying pairs of domain walls as elementary excitations. Applying a large magnetic field, the domain walls-solitons-can be condensed into the ground state, forming a static incommensurate soliton lattice, which has been investigated by neutron scattering.

The static soliton structure was found to be in good accordance to field theoretical and numerical calculations, while a low energy incommensurate mode is interpreted as a gapped phason. We anticipate that theoretical description of this and higher energy excitations will provide general insight to the effect of structural fluctuations on correlated electron systems. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V.

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