Dimensional reduction by pressure in the magnetic framework material CuF2(D2O)2( pyz): From spin-wave to spinon excitations

Metal organic magnets have enormous potential to host a variety of electronic and magnetic phases that originate from a strong interplay between the spin, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom. We control this interplay in the quantum magnet CuF2(D2O)(2)( pyz) by using high pressure to drive the system through structural and magnetic phase transitions. Using neutron scattering, we show that the low pressure state, which hosts a two-dimensional square lattice with spin-wave excitations and a dominant exchange coupling of 0.89 meV, transforms at high pressure into a one-dimensional spin chain hallmarked by a spinon continuum and a reduced exchange interaction of 0.43 meV. This direct microscopic observation of a magnetic dimensional crossover as a function of pressure opens up new possibilities for studying the evolution of fractionalised excitations in low-dimensional quantum magnets and eventually pressure-controlled metal-insulator transitions.