Spectral evolution of the s=12 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model: From one to two dimensions

We employ spin-cluster perturbation theory to investigate the evolution of the spin excitation spectra of the mixed-dimensional antiferromagnetic $s=\frac{1}{2}$ Heisenberg models from the one-dimensional chain to the two-dimensional square and honeycomb lattices by varying the spin interactions ${J}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$ across the chains relative to ${J}_{\ensuremath{\parallel}}$ along the chains. In addition to the well-defined magnon excitations, the spectra of the N\'eel phases for both lattices exhibit anomalous high-energy continua that evolve continuously from the continuum of one-dimensional chain through increasing ${J}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$. Notably, the key features of the continua at the two-dimensional limit for ${J}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}/{J}_{\ensuremath{\parallel}}=1$ are well consistent with experimental observations in real materials. Our results indicate that these high-energy continua in the N\'eel phases are a result of spinon deconfinement, which is further supported by a random-phase-approximation analysis based on the spinon Hubbard models.