Spin correlations in the two-dimensional spin-5/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet

Abstract:

We report a neutron scattering study of the instantaneous spin correlations in the two-dimensional spin S =5/2 square-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet Rb₂MnF₄. The measured correlation lengths are quantitatively described, with no adjustable parameters, by high-temperature series expansion results and by a theory based on the quantum self-consistent harmonic approximation. Conversely, we find that the data, which cover the range from about 1 to 50 lattice constants, are outside of the regime corresponding to renormalized classical behavior of the quantum non-linear model. In addition, we observe a crossover from Heisenberg to Ising critical behavior near the Néel temperature; this crossover is well described by a mean-field model with no adjustable parameters.