Three-dimensional magnetism and the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in = 3/2 kagome staircase CoVO.

Time-of-flight neutron data reveal spin waves in the ferromagnetic ground state of the kagome staircase material CoVO. While previous work has treated this material as quasi-two-dimensional, we find that an inherently three-dimensional description is needed to describe the spin wave spectrum throughout reciprocal space. Moreover, spin wave branches show gaps that point to an unexpectedly large Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction on the nearest-neighbor bond, with ≥ /2.

Evolution of the commensurate and incommensurate magnetic phases of the S = 3/2 kagome staircase Co₃V₂O₈ in an applied field.

Single crystal neutron diffraction studies have been performed on the S = 3/2 kagome staircase compound Co(3)V(2)O(8) with a magnetic field applied along the magnetization easy-axis ([Formula: see text]). Previous zero-field measurements (Chen Y et al 2006 Phys. Rev.