No Arabic abstract
We report an unexpected magnetic-field-driven magnetic structure in the 5f-electron Shastry- Sutherland system U2Pd2In. This phase develops at low temperatures from a noncollinear antiferromagnetic ground state above the critical field of 25.8 T applied along the a-axis. All U moments have a net magnetic moment in the direction of the applied field, described by a ferromagnetic propagation vector qF = (0 0 0) and an antiferromagnetic component described by a propagation vector qAF = (0 0.30 1/2 ) due to a modulation in the direction perpendicular to the applied field. We conclude that this surprising noncollinear magnetic structure is due to a competition between the single-ion anisotropy trying to keep moments, similar to the ground state, along the [110]-type directions, Dzyaloshinskii-Moryia interaction forcing them to be perpendicular to each other and application of the external magnetic field attempting to align them along the field direction.
In RuCl$_3$, inelastic neutron scattering and Raman spectroscopy reveal a continuum of non-spin-wave excitations that persists to high temperature, suggesting the presence of a spin liquid state on a honeycomb lattice. In the context of the Kitaev model, magnetic fields introduce finite interactions between the elementary excitations, and thus the effects of high magnetic fields - comparable to the spin exchange energy scale - must be explored. Here we report measurements of the magnetotropic coefficient - the second derivative of the free energy with respect to magnetic field orientation - over a wide range of magnetic fields and temperatures. We find that magnetic field and temperature compete to determine the magnetic response in a way that is independent of the large intrinsic exchange interaction energy. This emergent scale-invariant magnetic anisotropy provides evidence for a high degree of exchange frustration that favors the formation of a spin liquid state in RuCl$_3$.
We investigate by electrical transport the field-induced superconducting state (FISC) in the organic conductor $lambda$-(BETS)$_2$FeCl$_4$. Below 4 K, antiferromagnetic-insulator, metallic, and eventually superconducting (FISC) ground states are observed with increasing in-plane magnetic field. The FISC state survives between 18 and 41 T, and can be interpreted in terms of the Jaccarino-Peter effect, where the external magnetic field {em compensates} the exchange field of aligned Fe$^{3+}$ ions. We further argue that the Fe$^{3+}$ moments are essential to stabilize the resulting singlet, two-dimensional superconducting state
X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) at the Eu L-edge (2p->5d) in two compounds exhibiting valence fluctuation, namely EuNi2(Si0.18Ge0.82)2 and EuNi2P2, has been investigated at pulsed high magnetic fields of up to 40 T. A distinct XMCD peak corresponding to the trivalent state (Eu3+; f6), whose ground state is nonmagnetic (J=0), was observed in addition to the main XMCD peak corresponding to the magnetic (J=7/2) divalent state (Eu2+; f7). This result indicates that the 5d electrons belonging to both valence states are magnetically polarized. It was also found that the ratio P5d(3+)/P5d(2+) between the polarization of 5d electrons (P5d) in the Eu3+ state and that of Eu2+ is ~ 0.1 in EuNi2(Si0.18Ge0.82)2 and ~ 0.3 in EuNi2P2 at magnetic fields where their macroscopic magnetization values are the same. The possible origin of the XMCD of the Eu3+ state and an explanation of the dependence of P5d(3+)/P5d(2+) on the material are discussed in terms of hybridization between the conduction electrons and the f electrons.
Spin dynamics of the square lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet, BaMnGeO, is studied by a combination of bulk measurements, neutron diffraction, and inelastic neutron scattering techniques. Easy plane type antiferromagnetic order is identified at $T le 4.0$ K. The exchange interactions are estimated as $J_1$ = 27.8(3)${mu}$eV and $J_2$ = 1.0(1) ${mu}$eV, and the saturation field $H_{rm C}$ is 9.75 T. Magnetic excitation measurements with high experimental resolution setup by triple axis neutron spectrometer reveals the instability of one magnon excitation in the field range of $0.7H_{rm C} lesssim H lesssim 0.85H_{rm C}$.
The complexity of the antiferromagnetic orders observed in the honeycomb iridates is a double-edged sword in the search for a quantum spin-liquid ground state: both attesting that the magnetic interactions provide many of the necessary ingredients, but simultaneously impeding access. As a result, focus has been drawn to the unusual magnetic orders and the hints they provide to the underlying spin correlations. However, the study of any particular broken symmetry state generally provides little clue as to the possibilities of other nearby ground states cite{Anderson}. Here we use extreme magnetic fields to reveal the extent of the spin correlations in $gamma$-lithium iridate. We find that a magnetic field with a small component along the magnetic easy-axis melts long-range order, revealing a bistable, strongly correlated spin state. Far from the usual destruction of antiferromagnetism via spin polarization, the correlated spin state possesses only a small fraction of the total moment, without evidence for long-range order up to the highest attainable magnetic fields (>90 T).