Relationship between spinons and magnetic fields in a fractionalized state
| Autor: | Zhang, Yu, Zhao, Hengdi, Cao, Tristan R., Nandkishore, Rahul, Cao, Gang |
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| Rok vydání: | 2024 |
| Předmět: | |
| Druh dokumentu: | Working Paper |
| Popis: | The 4d-electron trimer lattice Ba4Nb1-xRu3+xO12 is believed to feature a universal heavy spinon Fermi surface that underpins both a quantum spin liquid (QSL) and an adjacent heavy-fermion strange metal (HFSM), depending on Nb content; the itinerant spinons as heat carriers render the charge-insulating QSL a much better thermal conductor than the HFSM [1]. Here we report that application of a magnetic field up to 14 T surprisingly breaks the signature temperature-linearity of the heat capacity of both phases below 150 mK, inducing a rapid rise in the heat capacity by as much as 5000%, whereas the AC magnetic susceptibility and the electrical resistivity show little response up to 14 T in the same milli-Kelvin temperature range. Furthermore, the magnetic field readily suppresses the thermal conductivity, and more strongly with decreasing temperature below 4 K by up to 40%. All these complex thermal phenomena indicate a powerful simplifying principle: Application of a magnetic field adversely weakens the itineracy of spinons and eventually destroys it with decreasing temperature, leading to an unprecedented quantum state featuring the astonishing rise in the heat capacity, thus entropy in the most unlikely circumstances of milli-Kelvin temperatures and strong magnetic fields. We present and discuss possible explanations. Comment: 4 figures |
| Databáze: | arXiv |
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