Using time-of-flight neutron spectroscopy, we have mapped out the magnetic excitations in the van der Waals antiferromagnet ${\text{NiBr}}_2$ over a broad range of energies and momenta. The observed well-defined magnon dispersions are quantitatively reproduced by linear spin-wave theory based on a minimal bilinear Hamiltonian that includes Heisenberg exchange interactions up to third-nearest neighbors, interlayer couplings, and a single-ion anisotropy term, with no need to invoke a Kitaev interaction. This finding is consistent with the fact that bromine is lighter than iodine, leading to weaker ligand-mediated spin-orbit coupling in ${\text{NiBr}}_2$ than in ${\text{NiI}}_2$, and consequently a reduced Kitaev interaction. Our results establish ${\text{NiBr}}_2$ as a Heisenberg-dominated van der Waals antiferromagnet and support the view that the ligand spin-orbit coupling governs the strength of the bond-dependent interactions within the $\text{Ni}{\mathit{\text{X}}}_2$ (X = halogen) family.

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• Magnetism
• Magnons
• Antiferromagnets
• Single crystal materials
• van der Waals systems
• Kitaev model
• Time-of-flight neutron spectroscopy