INS study to explore the spin gap and spin wave in the A-site ordered spinel LiFeCr4O8

LiFeCr4O8 (LFCO) crystallizes in a cubic spinel structure with a noncentrosymmetric space group (F4 ̅3m), where Li+ and Fe3+ ions are ordered in zinc-blend type manner at the A-site and Cr3+-ions at the B-site form a breathing pyrochlore lattice. The aim of the present proposal is to understand the nature of magnetic excitations in LFCO across the three magnetic transitions and investigate the spin gap in the spin-wave excitations. Present MAPS data collected at just two temperatures do not have enough resolution to study the spin gap. Therefore, we propose to carry out INS measurements at several other temperatures on MERLIN. The present study will allow us to understand the complete magnetic exchange interactions and changes in the spin gap as a function of temperature.