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PreprintarXiv licencearXiv

Negligible Kitaev interaction in the van der Waals antiferromagnet NiBr2 revealed by neutron spectroscopy

  • Hao Xu
  • Shufan Cheng
  • Yanyan Shangguan
  • Song Bao
  • Junbo Liao
  • Bo Zhang
  • Zihang Song
  • Shuai Dong
  • Maofeng Wu
  • Shinichi Itoh
  • Daichi Ueta
  • Jinsheng Wen
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Abstract

Using time-of-flight neutron spectroscopy, we have mapped out the magnetic excitations in the van der Waals antiferromagnet NiBr2 over a broad range of energies and momenta. The observed well-defined magnon dispersions are quantitatively reproduced by linear spin-wave theory based on a minimal bilinear Hamiltonian that includes Heisenberg exchange interactions up to third-nearest neighbors, interlayer couplings, and a single-ion anisotropy term, with no need to invoke a Kitaev interaction. This finding is consistent with the fact that bromine is lighter than iodine, leading to weaker ligand-mediated spin-orbit coupling in NiBr2 than in NiI2, and consequently a reduced Kitaev interaction. Our results establish NiBr2 as a Heisenberg-dominated van der Waals antiferromagnet and support the view that the ligand spin-orbit coupling governs the strength of the bond-dependent interactions within the NiX2 (X = halogen) family.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{xu2026negligible,
  title = {{Negligible Kitaev interaction in the van der Waals antiferromagnet NiBr$_2$ revealed by neutron spectroscopy}},
  author = {Hao Xu and Shufan Cheng and Yanyan Shangguan and Song Bao and Junbo Liao and Bo Zhang and Zihang Song and Shuai Dong and Maofeng Wu and Shinichi Itoh and Daichi Ueta and Jinsheng Wen},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2611.07597},
  eprint = {2611.07597},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.07597},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - Negligible Kitaev interaction in the van der Waals antiferromagnet NiBr_2 revealed by neutron spectroscopy
AU  - Hao Xu
AU  - Shufan Cheng
AU  - Yanyan Shangguan
AU  - Song Bao
AU  - Junbo Liao
AU  - Bo Zhang
AU  - Zihang Song
AU  - Shuai Dong
AU  - Maofeng Wu
AU  - Shinichi Itoh
AU  - Daichi Ueta
AU  - Jinsheng Wen
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/05
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2611.07597
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.07597
AB  - Using time-of-flight neutron spectroscopy, we have mapped out the magnetic excitations in the van der Waals antiferromagnet NiBr_2 over a broad range of energies and momenta. The observed well-defined magnon dispersions are quantitatively reproduced by linear spin-wave theory based on a minimal bilinear Hamiltonian that includes Heisenberg exchange interactions up to third-nearest neighbors, interlayer couplings, and a single-ion anisotropy term, with no need to invoke a Kitaev interaction. This finding is consistent with the fact that bromine is lighter than iodine, leading to weaker ligand-mediated spin-orbit coupling in NiBr2 than in NiI2, and consequently a reduced Kitaev interaction. Our results establish NiBr_2 as a Heisenberg-dominated van der Waals antiferromagnet and support the view that the ligand spin-orbit coupling governs the strength of the bond-dependent interactions within the NiX_2 (X = halogen) family.
ER  -