| Autor: |
Brodsky DO; Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Nöthnitzer Straße 40, 01187 Dresden, Germany.; Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, School of Physics and Astronomy, North Haugh, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9SS, U.K., Barber ME; Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Nöthnitzer Straße 40, 01187 Dresden, Germany.; Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, School of Physics and Astronomy, North Haugh, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9SS, U.K., Bruin JA; Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, School of Physics and Astronomy, North Haugh, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9SS, U.K.; Max Planck Institute for Solid State Physics, Heisenbergstraße 1, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany., Borzi RA; Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos, Universidad Nacional de La Plata-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, 1900 La Plata, Argentina., Grigera SA; Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, School of Physics and Astronomy, North Haugh, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9SS, U.K.; Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos, Universidad Nacional de La Plata-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, 1900 La Plata, Argentina., Perry RS; London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K., Mackenzie AP; Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Nöthnitzer Straße 40, 01187 Dresden, Germany.; Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, School of Physics and Astronomy, North Haugh, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9SS, U.K., Hicks CW; Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Nöthnitzer Straße 40, 01187 Dresden, Germany. |
| Abstrakt: |
A major area of interest in condensed matter physics is the way electrons in correlated electron materials can self-organize into ordered states, and a particularly intriguing possibility is that they spontaneously choose a preferred direction of conduction. The correlated electron metal Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7 has an anomalous phase at low temperatures that features strong susceptibility toward anisotropic transport. This susceptibility has been thought to indicate a spontaneous anisotropy, that is, electronic order that spontaneously breaks the point-group symmetry of the lattice, allowing weak external stimuli to select the orientation of the anisotropy. We investigate further by studying the response of Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7 in the region of phase formation to two fields that lift the native tetragonal symmetry of the lattice: in-plane magnetic field and orthorhombic lattice distortion through uniaxial pressure. The response to uniaxial pressure is surprisingly strong: Compressing the lattice by ~0.1% induces an approximately 100% transport anisotropy. However, neither the in-plane field nor the pressure phase diagrams are qualitatively consistent with spontaneous symmetry reduction. Instead, both are consistent with a multicomponent order parameter that is likely to preserve the point-group symmetry of the lattice, but is highly susceptible to perturbation. |
