Singlet-Triplet Dispersion Reveals Additional Frustration in the Triangular-Lattice Dimer Compound Ba3Mn2O8

Abstract

We present single crystal inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the S=1 dimerized quasi-two-dimensional antiferromagnet Ba3Mn2O8. The singlet-triplet dispersion reveals nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic interactions between adjacent bilayers that compete against each other. Although the interbilayer exchange is comparable to the intrabilayer exchange, this additional frustration reduces the effective coupling along the c axis and leads to a quasi-two-dimensional behavior. In addition, the obtained exchange values are able to reproduce the four critical fields in the phase diagram.