Magnetically propagating Hund's exciton in van der Waals antiferromagnet NiPS<sub>3</sub>.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38664432.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-47852-x and PMC identifier 11045826.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Magnetic van der Waals (vdW) materials have opened new frontiers for realizing novel many-body phenomena. Recently NiPS<sub>3</sub> has received intense interest since it hosts an excitonic quasiparticle whose properties appear to be intimately linked to the magnetic state of the lattice. Despite extensive studies, the electronic character, mobility, and magnetic interactions of the exciton remain unresolved. Here we address these issues by measuring NiPS<sub>3</sub> with ultra-high energy resolution resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). We find that Hund's exchange interactions are primarily responsible for the energy of formation of the exciton. Measuring the dispersion of the Hund's exciton reveals that it propagates in a way that is analogous to a double-magnon. We trace this unique behavior to fundamental similarities between the NiPS<sub>3</sub> exciton hopping and spin exchange processes, underlining the unique magnetic characteristics of this novel quasiparticle.