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Chiral Spin Liquid Ground State in YBaCo3FeO7
2022, Schweika, W., Valldor, M., Reim, J.D., Rößler, U.K.
A chiral spin liquid state is discovered in the highly frustrated, noncentrosymmetric swedenborgite compound YBaCo3FeO7, a layered kagome system of hexagonal symmetry, by advanced polarized neutron scattering from a single domain crystalline sample. The observed diffuse magnetic neutron scattering has an antisymmetric property that relates to its specific chirality, which consists of three cycloidal waves perpendicular to the c axis, forming an entity of cylindrical symmetry. Chirality and symmetry agree with relevant antisymmetric exchanges arising from broken spatial parity. Applying a Fourier analysis to the chiral interference pattern, with distinction between kagome sites and the connecting trigonal interlayer sites of threefold symmetry, the chiral spin correlation function is determined. Characteristic chiral waves originate from the trigonal sites and extend over several periods in the kagome planes. The chiral spin liquid is remarkably stable at low temperatures despite strong antiferromagnetic spin exchange. The observation raises a challenge, since the commonly accepted ground states in condensed matter either have crystalline long-range order or form a quantum liquid. We show that, within the classical theory of magnetic order, a disordered ground state may arise from chirality. The present scenario, with antisymmetric exchange acting as a frustrating gauge background that stabilizes local spin lumps, is similar to the avoided phase transition in coupled gauge and matter fields for subnuclear particles.
Correlation induced magnetic topological phases in the mixed-valence compound SmB6
2023, Liu, Huimei, Hirschmann, Moritz M., Sawatzky, George A., Khaliullin, Giniyat, Schnyder, Andreas P.
SmB6 is a mixed-valence compound with flat f-electron bands that have a propensity to magnetism. Here, using a realistic Γ8 quartet model, we investigate the dynamical spin susceptibility and describe the in-gap collective mode observed in neutron scattering experiments. We show that as the Sm valence increases with pressure, the magnetic correlations enhance and SmB6 undergoes a first-order phase transition into a metallic antiferromagnetic state, whose symmetry depends on the model parameters. The magnetic orderings give rise to distinct band topologies: while the A-type order leads to an overlap between valence and conduction bands in the form of Dirac nodal lines, the G-type order has a negative indirect gap with weak Z2 indices. We also consider the spin polarized phase under a strong magnetic field, and find that it exhibits Weyl points as well as nodal lines close to the Fermi level. The magnetic phases show markedly different surface states and tunable bulk transport properties, with important implications for experiments. Our theory predicts that a magnetic order can be stabilized also by lifting the Γ8 cubic symmetry, thus explaining the surface magnetism reported in SmB6.
Gradual pressure-induced enhancement of magnon excitations in CeCoSi
2020, Nikitin, S.E., Franco, D.G., Kwon, J., Bewley, R., Podlesnyak, A., Hoser, A., Koza, M.M., Geibel, C., Stockert, O.
CeCoSi is an intermetallic antiferromagnet with a very unusual temperature-pressure phase diagram: At ambient pressure it orders below TN=8.8K, while application of hydrostatic pressure induces a new magnetically ordered phase with exceptionally high transition temperature of ∼40K at 1.5 GPa. We studied the magnetic properties and the pressure-induced magnetic phase of CeCoSi by means of elastic and inelastic neutron scattering (INS) and heat capacity measurements. At ambient pressure CeCoSi orders into a simple commensurate AFM structure with a reduced ordered moment of only mCe=0.37(6)μB. Specific heat and low-energy INS indicate a significant gap in the low-energy magnon excitation spectrum in the antiferromagnetic phase, with the CEF excitations located above 10 meV. Hydrostatic pressure gradually shifts the energy of the magnon band towards higher energies and the temperature dependence of the magnons measured at 1.5 GPa is consistent with the phase diagram. Moreover, the CEF excitations are also drastically modified under pressure. © 2020 authors.
Magnetic-field- and temperature-dependent fermi surface of CeBiPt
2006, Wosnitza, J., Goll, G., Bianchi, A.D., Bergk, B., Kozlova, N., Opahle, I., Elgazzar, S., Richter, Manuel, Stockert, O., Löhneysen, H.V., Yoshino, T., Takabatake, T.
The half-Heusler compounds CeBiPt and LaBiPt are semimetals with very low charge-carrier concentrations as evidenced by Shubnikov–de Haas (SdH) and Hall-effect measurements. Neutron-scattering results reveal a simple antiferromagnetic structure in CeBiPt below TN = 1.15 K. The band structure of CeBiPt sensitively depends on temperature, magnetic field and stoichiometry. Above a certain, sample-dependent, threshold field (B>25 T), the SdH signal disappears and the Hall coefficient reduces significantly. These effects are absent in the non-4f compound LaBiPt. Electronic-band-structure calculations can well explain the observed behaviour by a 4f-polarization-induced Fermi-surface modification.
Field-Angle-Resolved Magnetic Excitations as a Probe of Hidden-Order Symmetry in CeB6
2020, Portnichenko, P.Y., Akbari, A., Nikitin, S.E., Cameron, A.S., Dukhnenko, A.V., Filipov, V.B., Shitsevalova, N.Yu., Čermák, P., Radelytskyi, I., Schneidewind, A., Ollivier, J., Podlesnyak, A., Huesges, Z., Xu, J., Ivanov, A., Sidis, Y., Petit, S., Mignot, J.-M., Thalmeier, P., Inosov, D.S.
In contrast to magnetic order formed by electrons' dipolar moments, ordering phenomena associated with higher-order multipoles (quadrupoles, octupoles, etc.) are more difficult to characterize because of the limited choice of experimental probes that can distinguish different multipolar moments. The heavy-fermion compound CeB6 and its La-diluted alloys are among the best-studied realizations of the long-range-ordered multipolar phases, often referred to as "hidden order."Previously, the hidden order in phase II was identified as primary antiferroquadrupolar and field-induced octupolar order. Here, we present a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of collective excitations in phase II of CeB6. Inelastic neutron scattering (INS) in fields up to 16.5 T reveals a new high-energy mode above 14 T in addition to the low-energy magnetic excitations. The experimental dependence of their energy on the magnitude and angle of the applied magnetic field is compared to the results of a multipolar interaction model. The magnetic excitation spectrum in a rotating field is calculated within a localized approach using the pseudospin representation for the Γ8 states. We show that the rotating-field technique at fixed momentum can complement conventional INS measurements of the dispersion at a constant field and holds great promise for identifying the symmetry of multipolar order parameters and the details of intermultipolar interactions that stabilize hidden-order phases. © 2020 authors. Published by the American Physical Society.
Piezoelectric-driven uniaxial pressure cell for muon spin relaxation and neutron scattering experiments
2020, Ghosh, Shreenanda, Brückner, Felix, Nikitin, Artem, Grinenko, Vadim, Elender, Matthias, Mackenzie, Andrew P., Luetkens, Hubertus, Klauss, Hans-Henning, Hicks, Clifford W.
We present a piezoelectric-driven uniaxial pressure cell that is optimized for muon spin relaxation and neutron scattering experiments and that is operable over a wide temperature range including cryogenic temperatures. To accommodate the large samples required for these measurement techniques, the cell is designed to generate forces up to ∼1000 N. To minimize the background signal, the space around the sample is kept as open as possible. We demonstrate here that by mounting plate-like samples with epoxy, a uniaxial stress exceeding 1 GPa can be achieved in an active volume of at least 5 mm3. We show that for practical operation, it is important to monitor both the force and displacement applied to the sample. In addition, because time is critical during facility experiments, samples are mounted in detachable holders that can be rapidly exchanged. The piezoelectric actuators are likewise contained in an exchangeable cartridge. © 2020 Author(s).