Publications by authors named "U Ammerahl"

The magnon thermal conductivity kappa(mag) of the hole-doped spin ladders in Sr14-xCaxCu24O41 has been investigated at low doping levels x. The analysis of kappa(mag) reveals a strong doping and temperature dependence of the magnon mean free path l(mag), which is a local probe for the interaction of magnons with the doped holes in the ladders. In particular, this novel approach to studying charge degrees of freedom via spin excitations shows that charge ordering of the holes in the ladders leads to a freezing out of magnon-hole scattering processes.

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We present results of the thermal conductivity of La2CuO4 and La(1.8)Eu(0.2)CuO4 single crystals which represent model systems for the two-dimensional spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a square lattice.

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Phonon-assisted two-magnon absorption is studied in the spin- 1/2 two-leg ladders of (Ca,La)(14)Cu(24)O(41) for E parallel c (legs) and E parallel a (rungs). We verify the theoretically predicted existence of two-magnon singlet bound states, which give rise to peaks at approximately equal to 2140 and 2800 cm(-1). The two-magnon continuum is observed at approximately equal to 4000 cm(-1).

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Electron spin resonance data of Cu2+ ions in La(14)-xCaxCu24O41 single crystals (x = 9,11,12) reveal a very large width of the resonance line in the paramagnetic state. This signals an unusually strong anisotropy of approximately 10% of the isotropic Heisenberg superexchange in the Cu-O chains of this compound. The strong anisotropy can be explained by the specific geometry of two symmetrical 90 degrees Cu-O-Cu bonds, which boosts the importance of orbital degrees of freedom.

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The thermal conductivity of the spin-1/2 ladder system Sr14-xCaxCu24O41 ( x = 0, 2, and 12) has been measured both along ( kappa(c)) and perpendicular to ( kappa(a)) the ladder direction at temperatures between 5 and 300 K. While the temperature dependence of kappa(a) is typical for phonon heat transport, an unusual double-peak structure is observed for kappa(c)(T). We interpret this unexpected feature as a manifestation of quasi-one-dimensional magnon thermal transport mediated by spin excitations along the ladders.

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