Spin waves modes in the AFM and helicoidal phases of CuO

Cupric oxide (CuO) has a helical magnetic phase in the temperature range from 213 to 230K which exhibits improper ferroelectricity (i.e. the magnetic order couples to the crystal structure which creates a voltage across the sample). With this proposal, we aim to determine the microscopic interactions responsible for stabilising the helical structure and generating ferroelectricity. The key to unlocking these subtle interactions can be found in the magnon dispersions. In previous unpolarised and polarised neutron inelastic scattering studies there was found to be up to 8 magnon modes at low energies. Our objective is to extend the recent data collected on LET and resolve these modes also at higher energies.