X-ray scattering studies of the unconventional spin-Peierls compounds TiOBr and TiOCl

Patrick Clancy (McMaster University)

TiOBr and TiOCl are members of a select group of quasi-one-dimensional materials which have been shown to exhibit spin-Peierls behavior. Due to a combination of antiferromagnetic interactions and strong magnetoelastic coupling, these compounds undergo a spin-Peierls phase transition at low temperatures and develop a dimerized singlet ground state. Interestingly, TiOBr and TiOCl have been found to differ from conventional spin-Peierls systems (such as CuGeO3) in several important respects; they undergo multiple phase transitions upon cooling and display both commensurate and incommensurate spin-Peierls ground states. In this talk I will discuss the results of recent x-ray scattering measurements performed on single crystal samples of TiOBr and TiOCl. In particular, I will describe what these measurements can reveal about the nature of the low temperature phase diagram, the incommensurate spin-Peierls state, and the critical behavior of these two unusual compounds.

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