Dirac Magnon in Honeycomb Lattice Magnet NiTiO3

Abstract

We performed inelastic neutron scattering experiments on single-crystal samples of the honeycomb lattice magnet, ilmenite NiTiO3. Below the Néel temperature of 22 K, spin wave excitations with a band energy of 3.7 meV were observed. The neutron energy spectra were well-reproduced by modeling the system as a ferromagnetic honeycomb lattice with antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling, using linear spin wave theory. Similar to another ilmenite CoTiO3, a crossing structure was observed at the K point, suggesting the presence of Dirac magnons in NiTiO3. Further calculations suggested the formation of Dirac nodal line.