Excitations of the field-induced quantum soliton lattice in CuGeO₃

The incommensurate magnetic soliton lattice in the high-field phase of a spin-Peierls system results from quantum fluctuations. We have used neutron scattering techniques to study CuGeO3, allowing us to obtain the first complete characterization of the excitations of the soliton lattice. Three distinct excitation branches are observed, all of which are gapped.

The two highest energy modes have minimum gaps at the commensurate wave vector and correspond to the creation or annihilation of soliton pairs. The third mode is incommensurate and is discussed in relation to theoretical predictions.