Semiclassical theory of the magnetization process of the triangular lattice Heisenberg model

Abstract

Motivated by the numerous examples of 1/3 magnetization plateaux in the triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet with spins ranging from 1/2 to 5/2, we revisit the semiclassical calculation of the magnetization curve of that model, with the aim of coming up with a simple method that allows one to calculate the full magnetization curve and not just the critical fields of the 1/3 plateau. We show that it is actually possible to calculate the magnetization curve including the first quantum corrections and the appearance of the 1/3 plateau entirely within linear spin-wave theory, with predictions for the critical fields that agree to order 1/S with those derived a long time ago on the basis of arguments that required going beyond linear spin-wave theory. This calculation relies on the central observation that there is a kink in the semiclassical energy at the field where the classical ground state is the collinear up-up-down structure and that this kink gives rise to a locally linear behavior of the energy with the field when all semiclassical ground states are compared to each other for all fields. The magnetization curves calculated in this way for spin 1/2, 1, and 5/2 are shown to be in good agreement with available experimental data.