Antiferromagnetic Quantum Phase Transitions: Continuous Tuning and Direct Probes of Competing States

Citation

Wang, Yishu (2018) Antiferromagnetic Quantum Phase Transitions: Continuous Tuning and Direct Probes of Competing States. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/VTHP-7645. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechTHESIS:05102018-115838454

Abstract

Antiferromagnets are choice systems to study quantum critical behavior. Unlike ferromagnets, they can experience continuous quantum phase transitions when tuned by pressure. However, the lack of a net magnetization renders experimental approaches difficult and often indirect. Here I demonstrate that both non-resonant and resonant x-ray magnetic diffraction under pressure provide the highly-desired direct probe for microscopic insights into the disappearance of the magnetic order, as well as the evolution of the charge and structural degrees of freedom. In Mo₃Sb₇, where spins are itinerant with small magnetic moments, we have discovered the doubling of the superconducting transition temperature under pressure and relate it to a lattice change from tetragonal to cubic structure. In MnP, a spiral magnetic order with tightened pitch was revealed in the high-pressure phase near a superconducting state at ∼7 GPa. As the spiral pitch changes, fluctuations move from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic at long and short wavelengths, respectively, thereby potentially pro- moting spin-fluctuation-mediated superconductivity of different symmetries. In the all-in-all-out (AIAO) pyrochlore antiferromagnet Cd₂Os₂O₇, we discovered an anti- ferromagnetic quantum critical point at 35.8 GPa using new techniques for resonant x-ray magnetic diffraction under pressure. The continuous suppression of AIAO antiferromagnetic order to zero temperature is accompanied by inversion symmetry breaking of the lattice, dividing the P − T phase space into three regions of different time reversal and spatial inversion symmetries. While phase lines of opposite curvature indicate a striking departure from a mean-field form at high pressure, the intertwined spin, charge, and phonon fluctuation modes point to a strong-coupled scenario of quantum criticality.

Thesis Files