Spin liquid and ferroelectricity close to a quantum critical point in PbCuTe$_2$O$_6$
Abstract
Geometrical frustration among interacting spins combined with strong quantum fluctuations destabilize long-range magnetic order in favour of more exotic states such as spin liquids. By following this guiding principle, a number of spin liquid candidate systems were identified in quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) systems. For 3D, however, the situation is less favourable as quantum fluctuations are reduced and competing states become more relevant. Here we report a comprehensive study of thermodynamic, magnetic and dielectric properties on single crystalline and pressed-powder samples of PbCuTeO, a candidate material for a 3D frustrated quantum spin liquid featuring a hyperkagome lattice. Whereas the low-temperature properties of the powder samples are consistent with the recently proposed quantum spin liquid state, an even more exotic behaviour is revealed for the single crystals. These crystals show ferroelectric order at , accompanied by strong lattice distortions, and a modified magnetic response -- still consistent with a quantum spin liquid -- but with clear indications for quantum critical behaviour.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2103.17175,
title = {Spin liquid and ferroelectricity close to a quantum critical point in PbCuTe$_2$O$_6$},
author = {Christian Thurn and Paul Eibisch and Arif Ata and Maximilian Winkler and Peter Lunkenheimer and István Kézsmárki and Ulrich Tutsch and Yohei Saito and Steffi Hartmann and Jan Zimmermann and Abanoub R. N. Hanna and A. T. M. Nazmul Islam and Shravani Chillal and Bella Lake and Bernd Wolf and Michael Lang},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2103.17175},
year = {2021}
}
Comments
59 pages, 15 figures, This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online