Field-dependent Magnons in a Honeycomb Antiferromagnet CoTiO_3

We report field-dependent high-resolution inelastic neutron scattering (INS) measurements on the honeycomb lattice magnet, CoTiO_3, to study the evolution of its magnon excitations across a spin reorientation transition driven by an in-plane magnetic field. By carrying out elastic neutron scattering in a magnetic field, we show that the sample transitions from a collinear antiferromagnetic state with multiple magnetic domains at a low field to a mono-domain state with a canted magnetic structure at a high field. Concurrent with this transition, we observed significant changes in both the energy and the width of the zone center magnon peak. The observed width change is argued to be consistent with an unusual zero-field state with extended domain walls. On the other hand, the magnon spectra near the 𝐊 point of the Brillouin zone boundary are found to be largely insensitive to the changes in the ordered moment directions and the domain configuration. We argue that this observation is difficult to explain within the framework of the bond-dependent model proposed in a recent INS study [Elliot et al, Nat. Commun., 12, 3936 (2021)]. Our study therefore calls for alternative explanations for the observed 𝐊-point gap in CoTiO_3.