arXiv subjects

Douglas E. MacLaughlin

Publications and source records attributed to Douglas E. MacLaughlin.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

Intrinsic new properties of a quantum spin liquid

Quantum fluctuations are expected to lead to highly entangled spin-liquid states in certain two-dimensional spin-1/2 compounds. We have synthesized and measured thermodynamic properties and muon spin relaxation rates in the copper-based two-dimensional triangular-lattice spin liquids Lu$_3$Cu$_2$Sb$_3$O$_{14}$ and Lu$_3$CuZnSb$_3$O$_{14}$. The former is the least disordered of this kind discovered to date. Magnetic entropy generation at high temperatures has been ruled out after carefully correcting for the lattice specific heat. Surprisingly, roughly half of the magnetic entropy is missing down to temperatures of O(10$^{-3}$) the exchange energy, independent of magnetic field up to $gμ_B H \gtrsim k_BΘ_W$, where $Θ_W$ is the Weiss temperature. The magnetic specific heat divided by temperature $C_M(T)/T$ and muon spin relaxation rate $λ(T)$ are both temperature-independent at low temperatures, followed by logarithmic decreases with increasing temperature. This behavior can be simply characterized by scale-invariant time-dependent fluctuations with a single parameter. Since no cooperative effects due to impurities are observed, the measured properties are intrinsic. They are evidence that in Lu$_3$Cu$_2$Sb$_3$O$_{14}$ massive quantum fluctuations lead to either a gigantic specific heat peak from singlet excitations at very low temperatures or, perhaps less likely, an extensively degenerate possibly topological singlet ground state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Muon Spin Relaxation and fluctuating magnetism in the pseudogap phase of YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{y}$

We report results of a muon spin relaxation study of slow magnetic fluctuations in the pseudogap phase of underdoped single-crystalline YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{y}$, $y = 6.77$ and 6.83. The dependence of the dynamic muon spin relaxation rate on applied magnetic field yields the rms magnitude~$B\mathrm{_{loc}^{rms}}$ and correlation time~$τ_c$ of fluctuating local fields at muon sites. The observed relaxation rates do not decrease with decreasing temperature~$T$ below the pseudogap onset at $T^\ast$, as would be expected for a conventional magnetic transition; both $B\mathrm{_{loc}^{rms}}$ and $τ_c$ are roughly constant in the pseudogap phase down to the superconducting transition. Corresponding NMR relaxation rates are estimated to be too small to be observable. Our results put strong constraints on theories of the anomalous pseudogap magnetism in YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{y}$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Persistent spin dynamics and absence of spin freezing in the $H$-$T$ phase diagram of the 2D triangular antiferromagnet YbMgGaO$_4$

We report results of muon spin relaxation and rotation ($μ$SR) experiments on the spin-liquid candidate~YbMgGaO$_{4}$. No static magnetism $\gtrsim 0.003μ_B$ per Yb ion, ordered or disordered, is observed down to 22~mK, a factor of two lower in temperature than previous measurements. Persistent (temperature-independent) spin dynamics are observed up to 0.20~K and at least 1~kOe, thus extending previous zero-field $μ$SR results over a substantial region of the $H$-$T$ phase diagram. Knight shift measurements in a 10-kOe transverse field reveal two lines with nearly equal amplitudes. Inhomogeneous muon depolarization in a longitudinal field, previously characterized by stretched-exponential relaxation due to spatial inhomogeneity, is fit equally well with two exponentials, also of equal amplitudes. We attribute these results to two interstitial muon sites in the unit cell, rather than disorder or other spatial distribution. Further evidence for this attribution is found from agreement between the ratio of the two measured relaxation rates and calculated mean-square local Yb$^{3+}$ dipolar fields at candidate muon sites. Zero-field data can be understood as a combination of two-exponential dynamic relaxation and quasistatic nuclear dipolar fields.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Charge-stripe order, antiferromagnetism, and spin dynamics in the cuprate-analog nickelate La$_4$Ni$_3$O$_8$

We report a muon spin rotation ($μ$SR) study of the cuprate-analog nickelate La$_4$Ni$_3$O$_8$, which undergoes a transition at 105 K to a low-temperature phase with charge-stripe and antiferromagnetic (AFM) order on square planar NiO$_2$ layers. Zero-field $μ$SR shows that this transition is abrupt and that the AFM configuration is commensurate. Comparison of observed muon precession frequencies with Ni dipolar field calculations yields Ni moments $\lesssim 0.5μ_B$. Dynamic muon spin relaxation above 105 K suggests critical slowing of Ni spin fluctuations, but is inconsistent with corresponding $^{139}$La NMR results. Critical slowing and an abrupt transition are also observed in the planar cuprate AFM La$_2$CuO$_{4+δ}$, where they are evidence for weakly interplanar-coupled two-dimensional AFM spin fluctuations, but our $μ$SR data do not agree quantitatively with theoretical predictions for this scenario.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Renormalizations in unconventional superconducting states of Ce$_{1-x}$Yb$_{x}$CoIn$_{5}$

We have measured the superconducting penetration depth~$Λ(T)$ in the heavy-fermion/intermediate-valent superconducting alloy series~Ce$_{1-x}$Yb$_x$CoIn$_5$ using transverse-field muon spin relaxation, to study the effect of intermediate-valent Yb doping on Fermi-liquid renormalization. From $Λ(T)$ we determine the superfluid density $ρ_s(T)$, and find that it decreases continuously with increasing nominal Yb concentration~$x$, i.e., with increasing intermediate valence. The temperature-dependent renormalization of the "normal" fluid density~$ρ_N(T) = ρ_s(0) - ρ_s(T)$ in both the heavy-fermion and intermediate valence limits is proportional to the temperature-dependent renormalization of the specific heat. This indicates that the temperature-dependent Fermi-liquid Landau parameters of the superconducting quasiparticles entering the two different physical quantities are the same. These results represent an important advance in understanding of both intermediate valence and heavy-fermion phenomena in superconductors.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Spin Fluctuations from Hertz to Terahertz on a Triangular Lattice

The temporal magnetic correlations of the triangular lattice antiferromagnet NiGa$_2$S$_4$ are examined through thirteen decades ($10^{-13}-1$~sec) using ultra-high-resolution inelastic neutron scattering, muon spin relaxation, AC and nonlinear susceptibility measurements. Unlike the short-ranged {\it spatial} correlations, the temperature dependence of the {\it temporal} correlations show distinct anomalies. The spin fluctuation rate decreases precipitously upon cooling towards $T^{\ast}=8.5$~K, but fluctuations on the microsecond time scale then persist in an anomalous dynamical regime for 4 K $<T\le T^{\ast}$. As this time scale exceeds that of single site dynamics by six orders of magnitude, these fluctuations bear evidence of emergent degrees of freedom within the short-range correlated incommensurate state of NiGa$_2$S$_4$.

cond-mat.str-el↗