Revealing three-dimensional quantum criticality by Sr substitution in Han purple

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Documents

  • Stephan Allenspach
  • Pascal Puphal
  • Joosep Link
  • Ivo Heinmaa
  • Ekaterina Pomjakushina
  • Cornelius Krellner
  • Jakob Lass
  • Gregory S. Tucker
  • Christof Niedermayer
  • Shusaku Imajo
  • Yoshimitsu Kohama
  • Koichi Kindo
  • Steffen Kramer
  • Mladen Horvatic
  • Marcelo Jaime
  • Alexander Madsen
  • Antonietta Mira
  • Nicolas Laflorencie
  • Frederic Mila
  • Bruce Normand
  • And 3 others
  • Christian Ruegg
  • Raivo Stern
  • Franziska Weickert

Classical and quantum phase transitions (QPTs), with their accompanying concepts of criticality and universality, are a cornerstone of statistical thermodynamics. An excellent example of a controlled QPT is the field-induced ordering of a gapped quantum magnet. Although numerous "quasi-one-dimensional" coupled spin-chain and -ladder materials are known whose ordering transition is three-dimensional (3D), quasi-two-dimensional (2D) systems are special for multiple reasons. Motivated by the ancient pigment Han purple (BaCuSi2O6), a quasi-2D material displaying anomalous critical properties, we present a complete analysis of Ba0.9Sr0.1CuSi2O6. We measure the zero-field magnetic excitations by neutron spectroscopy and deduce the spin Hamiltonian. We probe the field-induced transition by combining magnetization, specific-heat, torque, and magnetocalorimetric measurements with nuclear magnetic resonance studies near the QPT. With a Bayesian statistical analysis and large-scale Quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we demonstrate unambiguously that observable 3D quantum critical scaling is restored by the structural simplification arising from light Sr substitution in Han purple.

Original languageEnglish
Article number023177
JournalPhysical Review Research
Volume3
Issue number2
Number of pages18
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 Jun 2021

    Research areas

  • BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATION, GROUND-STATE, MAGNETIZATION PLATEAUS, PHASE-TRANSITIONS, FIELD, TEMPERATURE, MODEL, ANTIFERROMAGNET

ID: 279186846