中文

Magnetic devil's staircase in UAgBi$_{2}$

强关联电子 2026-07-10 v1 材料科学
作者: G. S. Freitas , K. Kirchner , C. Girod , D. R. Yahne , W. Simeth , C. S. T. Kengle , F. B. Carneiro , P. G. Pagliuso , J. D. Thompson , M. Janoschek , O. Zaharko , S. M. Thomas , P. F. S. Rosa
在 arXiv 上查看 ↗ PDF ↗

摘要

Materials characterized by competing interactions often exhibit a large number of nearly degenerate periodic states. Here we show that layered UAgBi2_2 hosts a cascade of field- and temperature-induced magnetic transitions. Based on specific heat, thermal expansion, and neutron diffraction, we construct a phase diagram that reveals at least seven nearly degenerate magnetic states in UAgBi2_2. The observed multi-step magnetization process can be understood by square-wave structures with distinct propagation vectors k\mathbf{k}=(0, 0, \textit{k}) in the presence of strong easy-axis anisotropy that confines the moments along the \textit{c} axis. Our findings are consistent with a magnetic devil's staircase described by the axial next-nearest neighbor Ising (ANNNI) model and place UAgBi2_2 as a rare realization of the devil's staircase in a 5\textit{f}-electron system.

引用

@article{arxiv.2607.09003,
  title  = {Magnetic devil's staircase in UAgBi$_{2}$},
  author = {G. S. Freitas and K. Kirchner and C. Girod and D. R. Yahne and W. Simeth and C. S. T. Kengle and F. B. Carneiro and P. G. Pagliuso and J. D. Thompson and M. Janoschek and O. Zaharko and S. M. Thomas and P. F. S. Rosa},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.09003},
  year   = {2026}
}