Quasi-one-dimensional magnons in an intermetallic marcasite

Phys Rev Lett. 2012 Apr 20;108(16):167202. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.167202. Epub 2012 Apr 20.

Abstract

We present inelastic neutron scattering measurements and first principles calculations examining the intermetallic marcasite CrSb(2). The observed spin-wave dispersion implies that the magnetic interactions are strongly one-dimensional with antiferromagnetic chains parallel to the crystalline c axis. Such low-dimensional excitations are unexpected in a semiconducting intermetallic system. Moreover, we observe a clear anisotropic thermal conductivity indicating that the magnetic anisotropy enhances thermoelectric properties along particular crystallographic directions.