Molecular dynamics, spin dynamics study of phonon-magnon interactions in BCC iron*

By combining an atomistic many-body potential (Finnis-Sinclair) with a classical Heisenberg-like spin Hamiltonian, we perform combined molecular and spin dynamics simulations to investigate phonon-magnon interactions in BCC iron. The coupling between atomic and spin degrees of freedom is established via a distance dependent exchange interaction derived from first principles electronic structure calculations. Coupled equations of motion are integrated using a second order Suzuki-Trotter decomposition of the exponential time evolution operator. To investigate the effect of lattice vibrations on spin wave spectrum, we calculate spin-spin and density-density dynamic structure factors S(q, $\omega$), and compare that to the results obtained from pure spin dynamics simulations performed on a rigid lattice. In the presence of lattice vibrations, we observe an additional peak in the longitudinal spin-spin dynamic structure factor which coincides with the peak position in density-density dynanmic structure factor.