We report a pressure-induced phase transition in the frustrated kagom\'e material jarosite at ~45 GPa, which leads to the disappearance of magnetic order. Using a suite of experimental techniques, we characterize the structural, electronic, and magnetic changes in jarosite through this phase transition. Synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy experiments, analyzed in aggregate with the results from density functional theory calculations, indicate that the material changes from a R-3m structure to a structure with a R-3c space group. The resulting phase features a rare twisted kagom\'e lattice in which the integrity of the equilateral Fe3+ triangles persists. Based on symmetry arguments we hypothesize that the resulting structural changes alter the magnetic interactions to favor a possible quantum paramagnetic phase at high pressure.
@article{arxiv.2007.12024,
title = {Pressure induced collapse of magnetic order in jarosite},
author = {Ryan A. Klein and James P. S. Walsh and Samantha M. Clarke and Zhenxian Liu and E. Ercan Alp and Wenli Bi and Yue Meng and Alison B. Altman and Paul Chow and Yuming Xiao and M. R. Norman and James M. Rondinelli and Steven D. Jacobsen and Danilo Puggioni and Danna E. Freedman},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2007.12024},
year = {2020}
}