Actual research using neutrons

Our group performs neutron-scattering investigations of novel magnetic materials and superconductors using various neutron diffraction and spectroscopy techniques. For this purpose we employ state-of-the art instruments at several world-leading neutron sources in Europe and overseas. Our topics of interest include quantum magnetism, the effects of magnetic frustration and topology, multipolar ordering phenomena in f-electron systems, noncollinear and incommensurate spin order, the formation of flux-line lattices in superconductors and skyrmion lattices in helimagnets. We also participate in the development of new neutron-scattering instrumentation at the cold-neutron triple-axis spectrometer PANDA operated by the Jülich Center for Neutron Science (JCNS) at the FRM-II research reactor in Munich.

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News & Highlights

Rare-Earth Borides

The review volume "Rare-Earth Borides" edited by Dmytro Inosov (ISBN 9789814877565) has been published by Jenny Stanford Publishing in 2021. The book features a comprehensive collection of reviews in 11 chapters, including our own review on magnetic neutron spectroscopy of pure and doped cerium hexaboride. It offers a cutting-edge summary of the research on rare-earth borides from various viewpoints, authored by leading experts in the field. The book can be ordered as a Hardcover or e-Book directly from the publisher or on Amazon.

BAMBUS for PANDA

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) supports our application for the construction of the new neutron multianalyzer BAMBUS for the cold-neutron triple-axis spectrometer PANDA that is operated by the Jülich Center for Neutron Science (JCNS) at the MLZ/FRM-II research reactor in Munich. This 1.4 MEUR project is about to be completed in 2021 by the joint efforts of our neutron spectroscopy group at TU Dresden and JCNS.

Quantum magnetism in minerals

"Advances in Physics" has published our review article "Quantum Magnetism in Minerals". Copper minerals, including well-known gemstones like linarite (photo) or malachite, attracted a lot of recent attention from the point of view of quantum magnetism, magnetic frustration, and low-temperature ordering phenomena. Some of them, e.g. herbertsmithite, are considered promising candidate materials for the realization of new forms of magnetic matter. This review summarizes experimental and theoretical results in this emergent interdisciplinary field that bridges mineralogy with low-temperature condensed-matter physics and quantum chemistry.

Review articles

Two invited review articles by our group were published in 2016. The first one by D. S. Inosov, entitled "Spin fluctuations in iron pnictides and chalcogenides: From antiferromagnetism to superconductivity" appeared in the January–February issue of Comptes Rendus Physique. The second paper by A. S. Cameron, G. Friemel and D. S. Inosov, with the title "Multipolar phases and magnetically hidden order: Review of the heavy-fermion compound Ce(1−x)La(x)B6", was published in May the same year by the high-impact review journal "Reports on Progress in Physics".

Research in the neutron spectroscopy group

In our neutron spectroscopy group at the TU Dresden, we specialize in the investigations of magnetic phenomena and low-temperature spin dynamics in solids. The main experimental methods employed by our group are

● Neutron diffraction
● Small-angle neutron scattering
● Cold- and thermal-neutron triple-axis spectroscopy
● Time-of-flight neutron spectroscopy
● Spin-polarized and spin-echo neutron scattering

Our research covers the following topics:

● Spin dynamics in correlated electron systems
● Noncollinear and topological magnetic structures
● Magnetic frustration and quantum magnetism
● Spin-wave propagation in incommensurate magnets
● Mulipolar ordering phenomena in f-electron systems
● Unconventional superconductivity
● Development of neutron instrumentation

For further details, please refer to our publication list and to the description of the currently running third-party funded research projects.

Actual Research Topics of Our Group

Spin Excitations in Helimagnets

The magnetoelectric compound Cu2OSeO3 is known as the first example of an insulator hosting a skyrmion-lattice phase at low temperatures – an exotic type of topological magnetic order. Using time-of-flight neutron spectroscopy, we have investigated the theoretically predicted magnon spectrum and magnetic exchange interactions in this material.

Magnetic Excitons in Cerium Hexaboride

Apart from conventional antiferromagnetic phases, cerium hexaboride exhibits an exotic antiferroquadrupolar type of order at low temperatures, which represents an interplay of magnetic and orbital degrees of freedom. By an extensive mapping of spin excitations in energy-momentum space, we have discovered previously unexpected ferro- and antiferromagnetic exciton modes, which in resemblance to the famous neutron spin resonance in unconventional superconductors are linked to the charge energy gap.

Spin waves in one-dimensional spin chains

The interactions between magnetic Co3+ ions within the ferromagnetic spin chains of Ca3Co2O6 could be quantitatively established for the first time with the help of inelastic neutron scattering.