%0 Journal Article
%A Gao, Shang
%A Zaharko, Oksana
%A Tsurkan, Vladimir
%A Su, Yixi
%A White, Jonathan S.
%A Tucker, Gregory S.
%A Roessli, Bertrand
%A Bourdarot, Frederic
%A Sibille, Romain
%A Chernyshov, Dmitry
%A Fennell, Tom
%A Loidl, Alois
%A Rüegg, Christian
%T Spiral spin-liquid and the emergence of a vortex-like state in MnSc2S4
%J Nature physics
%V 13
%@ 1745-2481
%C Basingstoke
%I Nature Publishing Group
%M FZJ-2017-01281
%P 157-161
%D 2017
%X Spirals and helices are common motifs of long-range order in magnetic solids, and they may also be organized into more complex emergent structures such as magnetic skyrmions and vortices. A new type of spiral state, the spiral spin-liquid, in which spins fluctuate collectively as spirals, has recently been predicted to exist. Here, using neutron scattering techniques, we experimentally prove the existence of a spiral spin-liquid in MnSc2S4 by directly observing the ‘spiral surface’—a continuous surface of spiral propagation vectors in reciprocal space. We elucidate the multi-step ordering behaviour of the spiral spin-liquid, and discover a vortex-like triple-q phase on application of a magnetic field. Our results prove the effectiveness of the J1–J2 Hamiltonian on the diamond lattice as a model for the spiral spin-liquid state in MnSc2S4, and also demonstrate a new way to realize a magnetic vortex lattice through frustrated interactions.
%F PUB:(DE-HGF)16
%9 Journal Article
%U <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000394070700022
%R 10.1038/nphys3914
%U https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/827075