Spin Excitations and Phonon Anomaly in Quasi-1D Spiral Magneti CuBr$_2$

CuBr$_2$ can be considered as a model quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) spin-1/2 magnet, in which the frustrating ferromagnetic nearest-neighbor and antiferromagnetic next-nearest-neighbor exchange interactions give rise to a cycloidal magnetic order below $T_N = 73$ K. The removal of inversion symmetry by the magnetic order also makes the material a type-II multiferroic system with a remarkably simple crystal structure. Using time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering spectroscopy, we have determined the spin-wave as well as phonon spectra throughout the entire Brillouin zone. The spin-wave spectrum exhibits pronounced anisotropy and magnon damping, consistent with the material’s quasi-1D nature and the non-colinear spin structure. The phonon spectrum exhibits dramatic discontinuities in the dispersion across the quasi-1D magnetic wave vector, indicative of strong magnetoelastic coupling and possibly of a spin-orbital texture that comes along with the spin correlations.