We review the mechanism of spin-lattice coupling in relieving the geometrical frustration of pyrochlore antiferromagnets, in particular spinel oxides. The tetrahedral unit, which is the building block of the pyrochlore lattice, undergoes a spin-driven Jahn–Teller instability when lattice degrees of freedom are coupled to the antiferromagnetism. By restricting our considerations to distortions which preserve the translational symmetries of the lattice, we present a general theory of the collective spin–Jahn–Teller effect in the pyrochlore lattice. One of the predicted lattice distortions breaks the inversion symmetry and gives rise to a chiral pyrochlore lattice, in which frustrated bonds form helices with a definite handedness. The chirality is transferred to the spin system through spin-orbit coupling, resulting in a long-period spiral state, as observed in spinel CdCr2O4. We discuss explicit models of spin-lattice coupling using local phonon modes, and their applications in other frustrated magnets.
CITATION STYLE
Tchernyshyov, O., & Chern, G. W. (2011). Spin-Lattice Coupling in Frustrated Antiferromagnets. In Springer Series in Solid-State Sciences (Vol. 164, pp. 269–291). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-10589-0_11
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