arXiv subjects

F. Bert

Publications and source records attributed to F. Bert.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Nature of the spin liquid ground state in a breathing kagome compound studied by NMR and series expansion

In the vanadium oxyfluoride compound (NH$_4$)$_2$[C$_7$H$_{14}$N][V$_7$O$_6$F$_{18}$] (DQVOF), the V$^{4+}$ (3d$^1$, $S=1/2$) ions realize a unique, highly frustrated breathing kagome lattice composed of alternately-sized, corner-sharing equilateral triangles. Here we present an $^{17}$O NMR study of DQVOF, which isolates the local susceptibility of the breathing kagome network. By a fit to series expansion we extract the ratio of the interactions within the breathing kagome plane, $J_\triangledown / J_\vartriangle = 0.55(4)$, and the mean antiferromagnetic interaction $\bar{J}=60(7)$~K. Spin lattice, $T_1$, measurements reveal an essentially gapless excitation spectrum with a maximum gap $Δ/ \bar{J}=0.007(7)$. Our study provides new impetus for further theoretical investigations in order to establish whether the gapless spin liquid behavior displayed by DQVOF is intrinsic to its breathing kagome lattice or whether it is due to perturbations to this model, such as a residual coupling of the V$^{4+}$ ions in the breathing kagome planes to the interlayer V$^{3+}$ ($S=1$) spins.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Symmetry Reduction in the Quantum Kagome Antiferromagnet Herbertsmithite

Employing complementary torque magnetometry and electron spin resonance on single crystals of herbertsmithite, the closest realization to date of a quantum kagome antiferromagnet featuring a spin-liquid ground state, we provide novel insight into different contributions to its magnetism. At low temperatures, two distinct types of defects with different magnetic couplings to the kagome spins are found. Surprisingly, their magnetic response contradicts the three-fold symmetry of the ideal kagome lattice, suggesting the presence of a global structural distortion that may be related to the establishment of the spin-liquid ground state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Spin Liquid State in the 3D Frustrated Antiferromagnet PbCuTe2O6: NMR and muSR Studies

PbCuTe2O6 is a rare example of a spin liquid candidate featuring a three dimensional magnetic lattice. Strong geometric frustration arises from the dominant antiferromagnetic interaction which generates a hyperkagome network of Cu2+ ions although additional interactions enhance the magnetic lattice connectivity. Through a combination of magnetization measurements and local probe investigation by NMR and muSR down to 20 mK, we provide a robust evidence for the absence of magnetic freezing in the ground state. The local spin susceptibility probed by the NMR shift hardly deviates from the macroscopic one down to 1 K pointing to a homogeneous magnetic system with a low defect concentration. The saturation of the NMR shift and the sublinear power law temperature (T) evolution of the 1/T1 NMR relaxation rate at low T point to a non-singlet ground state favoring a gapless fermionic description of the magnetic excitations. Below 1 K a pronounced slowing down of the spin dynamics is witnessed, which may signal a reconstruction of spinon Fermi surface. Nonetheless, the compound remains in a fluctuating spin liquid state down to the lowest temperature of the present investigation.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Magnetic ground state and spin fluctuations in MnGe chiral magnet as studied by Muon Spin Rotation

We have studied by muon spin resonance (μSR) the helical ground state and fluctuating chiral phase recently observed in the MnGe chiral magnet. At low temperature, the muon polarization shows double period oscillations at short time scales. Their analysis, akin to that recently developed for MnSi [A. Amato et al., Phys. Rev. B 89, 184425 (2014)], provides an estimation of the field distribution induced by the Mn helical order at the muon site. The refined muon position agrees nicely with ab initio calculations. With increasing temperature, an inhomogeneous fluctuating chiral phase sets in, characterized by two well separated frequency ranges which coexist in the sample. Rapid and slow fluctuations, respectively associated with short range and long range ordered helices, coexist in a large temperature range below T$_{N}$ = 170 K. We discuss the results with respect to MnSi, taking the short helical period, metastable quenched state and peculiar band structure of MnGe into account.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2015

Frozen State and Spin Liquid Physics in Na4Ir3O8: an NMR study

Na4Ir3O8 is a unique case of a hyperkagome 3D corner sharing triangular lattice which can be decorated with quantum spins. It has spurred a lot of theoretical interest as a spin liquid candidate. We present a comprehensive set of NMR data taken on both the 23Na and 17O sites. We show that disordered magnetic freezing of all Ir sites sets in below Tf $\sim$ 7 K, well below J = 300 K, with a drastic slowing down of fluctuations to a static state revealed by our T1 measurements. Above typically 2Tf, physical properties are relevant to the spin liquid state induce by this exotic geometry. While the shift data shows that the susceptibility levels off below 80 K, 1/T1 has little variation from 300K to 2Tf. We discuss the implication of our results in the context of published experimental and theoretical work.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Quenched crystal field disorder and magnetic liquid ground states in Tb2Sn2-xTixO7

Solid-solutions of the "soft" quantum spin ice pyrochlore magnets Tb2B2O7 with B=Ti and Sn display a novel magnetic ground state in the presence of strong B-site disorder, characterized by a low susceptibility and strong spin fluctuations to temperatures below 0.1 K. These materials have been studied using ac-susceptibility and muSR techniques to very low temperatures, and time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering techniques to 1.5 K. Remarkably, neutron spectroscopy of the Tb3+ crystal field levels appropriate to at high B-site mixing (0.5 < x < 1.5 in Tb2Sn2-xTixO7) reveal that the doublet ground and first excited states present as continua in energy, while transitions to singlet excited states at higher energies simply interpolate between those of the end members of the solid solution. The resulting ground state suggests an extreme version of a random-anisotropy magnet, with many local moments and anisotropies, depending on the precise local configuration of the six B sites neighboring each magnetic Tb3+ ion.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Spin-orbital liquid state assisted by singlet-triplet excitation in $J~=~0$ ground state of Ba$_3$ZnIr$_2$O$_9$

Strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) effects of heavy $d$-orbital elements have long been neglected in describing the ground states of their compounds thereby overlooking a variety of fascinating and yet unexplored magnetic and electronic states, until recently. The spin-orbit entangled electrons in such compounds can get stabilized into unusual spin-orbit multiplet $J$-states which warrants severe investigations. Here we show using detailed magnetic and thermodynamic studies and theoretical calculations the ground state of Ba$_3$ZnIr$_2$O$_9$, a 6$H$ hexagonal perovskite is a close realisation of the elusive $J$~=~0 state. However, we find that local Ir moments are spontaneously generated due to the comparable energy scales of the singlet-triplet splitting driven by SOC and the superexchange interaction mediated by strong intra-dimer hopping. While the Ir ions within the structural Ir$_2$O$_9$ dimer prefers to form a spin-orbit singlet state (SOS) with no resultant moment, substantial interdimer exchange interactions from a frustrated lattice ensure quantum fluctuations till the lowest measured temperatures and stabilize a spin-orbital liquid phase.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Spin dynamics and disorder effects in the S=1/2 kagome Heisenberg spin liquid phase of kapellasite

We report $^{35}$Cl NMR, ESR, $μ$SR and specific heat measurements on the $S=1/2$ frustrated kagomé magnet kapellasite, $α-$Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$Cl$_2$, where a gapless spin liquid phase is stabilized by a set of competing exchange interactions. Our measurements confirm the ferromagnetic character of the nearest-neighbour exchange interaction $J_1$ and give an energy scale for the competing interactions $|J| \sim 10$ K. The study of the temperature-dependent ESR lineshift reveals a moderate symmetric exchange anisotropy term $D$, with $|D/J|\sim 3$%. These findings validate a posteriori the use of the $J_1 - J_2 - J_d$ Heisenberg model to describe the magnetic properties of kapellasite [Bernu et al., Phys. Rev. B 87, 155107 (2013)]. We further confirm that the main deviation from this model is the severe random depletion of the magnetic kagomé lattice by 27%, due to Cu/Zn site mixing, and specifically address the effect of this disorder by $^{35}$Cl NMR, performed on an oriented polycrystalline sample. Surprisingly, while being very sensitive to local structural deformations, our NMR measurements demonstrate that the system remains homogeneous with a unique spin susceptibility at high temperature, despite a variety of magnetic environments. Unconventional spin dynamics is further revealed by NMR and $μ$SR in the low-$T$, correlated, spin liquid regime, where a broad distribution of spin-lattice relaxation times is observed. We ascribe this to the presence of local low-energy modes.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Spin Liquid Ground State in the Frustrated Kagome Antiferromagnet MgCu3(OH)6Cl2

We report muSR experiments on Mg{x}Cu{4-x}(OH)6Cl2 with x \sim 1, a new material isostructural to Herbertsmithite exhibiting regular kagome planes of spin 1/2 (Cu^{2+}), and therefore a candidate for a spin liquid ground state. We evidence the absence of any magnetic ordering down to 20 mK (\sim J/10^4). We investigate in detail the spin dynamics on well characterized samples in zero and applied longitudinal fields and propose a low T defect based interpretation to explain the unconventional dynamics observed in the quantum spin liquid phase.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction in vesignieite: A route to freezing in a quantum kagome antiferromagnet

We report an electron spin resonance investigation of the geometrically frustrated spin-1/2 kagome antiferromagnet vesignieite, BaCu$_3$V$_2$O$_8$(OH)$_2$. Analysis of the line widths and line shifts indicates the dominance of in-plane Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya anisotropy that is proposed to suppress strongly quantum spin fluctuations and thus to promote long-range ordering rather than a spin-liquid state. We also evidence an enhanced spin-phonon contribution that might originate from a lattice instability and discuss the origin of a low-temperature mismatch between intrinsic and bulk susceptibility in terms of local inhomogeneity.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Exchange energies of Kapellasite from high-temperature series analysis of the kagome lattice J1-J2-Jd-Heisenberg model

We present a method to build magnetic models for insulators based on high-temperature expansions by fitting both the magnetic susceptibility and the low temperature specific heat data. It is applied to the frustrated magnet kapellasite (Cu3Zn(OH)6Cl2) with the J1-J2-Jd-Heisenberg model on the kagome lattice. Experimental data are reproduced with a set of "competing" exchange energies closed to J1 = -12K, J2= -4K and Jd=15.6K, where Jd is the third neighbor exchange energy across the hexagon. Strong constrains between these exchange energies are established. These values confirm the results of B. Fåk et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett., 109, 037208 (2012)) regarding the location of kapellasite in the {\it cuboc2} phase of the Heisenberg model. The quality and limits of this modeling are discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Gapless spin liquid ground state in the S=1/2 vanadium oxyfluoride kagome antiferromagnet [NH4]2[C7H14N][V7O6F18]

The vanadium oxyfluoride [NH4]2[C7H14N][V7O6F18] (DQVOF) is a geometrically frustrated magnetic bilayer material. The structure consists of S=1/2 kagome planes of V4+ d1 ions with S=1 V3+ d2 ions located between the kagome layers. Muon spin relaxation measurements demonstrate the absence of spin freezing down to 40 mK despite an energy scale of 60 K for antiferromagnetic exchange interactions. From magnetization and heat capacity measurements we conclude that the S=1 spins of the interplane V3+ ions are weakly coupled to the kagome layers, such that DQVOF can be viewed as an experimental model for S=1/2 kagome physics, and that it displays a gapless spin liquid ground state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Quantum Tunneling in Half-Integer-Spin Kagome-Lattice Langasites

Employing the muon spin relaxation technique we evidence temperature independent magnetic fluctuations persisting down to the lowest temperatures in the samarium-based ($J=5/2$) kagome-lattice Langasite. A detailed bulk-magnetization characterization and comparison to the neodymium-based ($J=9/2$) compound allow us to assign the persistent spin dynamics to a quantum tunneling process. This is facilitated by pairwise anisotropic magnetic interactions, leading to a universal scaling of the muon relaxation. Our study reveals a remarkable analogy between weakly interacting half-integer-spin rare-earth magnets and molecular nanomagnets.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Singlet Ground State of the Quantum Antiferromagnet Ba3CuSb2O9

We present local probe results on the honeycomb lattice antiferromagnet Ba3CuSb2O9. Muon spin relaxation measurements in zero field down to 20 mK show unequivocally that there is a total absence of spin freezing in the ground state. Sb NMR measurements allow us to track the intrinsic susceptibility of the lattice, which shows a maximum at around 55 K and drops to zero in the low-temperature limit. The spin-lattice relaxation rate shows two characteristic energy scales, including a field-dependent crossover to exponential low-temperature behavior, implying gapped magnetic excitations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Kapellasite: a kagome quantum spin liquid

Magnetic susceptibility, NMR, muSR, and inelastic neutron scattering measurements show that kapellasite, Cu3Zn(OH)6Cl2, a geometrically frustrated spin-1/2 kagome antiferromagnet polymorphous with the herbertsmithite mineral, is a gapless spin liquid with frustrated interactions showing unusual dynamic short-range correlations of non-coplanar cuboc2 type which persist down to 20 mK. The Hamiltonian is determined from a fit of a high-temperature series expansion to thermodynamical data. The experimental data are compared to theoretical calculations using the Schwinger-boson approach.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Magnetic behavior of Ba_{3}Cu_{3}Sc_{4}O_{12}

The chain-like system Ba_{3}Cu_{3}Sc_4O_{12} has potentially interesting magnetic properties due to the presence of Cu^{2+} and a structure-suggested low-dimensionality. We present magnetization M versus magnetic field H and temperature T, T- and H-dependent heat-capacity C_{p}, ^{45}Sc nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), muon spin rotation (μSR), neutron diffraction measurements and electronic structure calculations for Ba_{3}Cu_{3}Sc_{4}O_{12}. The onset of magnetic long-range antiferromagnetic order at T_{N} ~16 K is consistently evidenced from the whole gamut of our data. A significant sensitivity of T_{N} to the applied magnetic field H (T_{N}~0 K for H=70 kOe) is also reported. Coupled with a ferromagnetic Curie-Weiss temperature (θ_{CW}~65 K) in the susceptibility (from a 100 K-300 K fit), it is indicative of competing ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interactions. These indications are corroborated by our density functional theory based electronic structure calculations where we find the presence of significant ferromagnetic couplings between some copper ions whereas AF couplings were present between some others. Our experimental data, backed by our theoretical calculations, rule out one-dimensional magnetic behaviour suggested by the structure and the observed long-range order is due to the presence of non-negligible magnetic interactions between adjacent as well as next-nearest chains.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Field-Induced Freezing of a Quantum Spin Liquid on the Kagome Lattice

We report 17O NMR measurements in the S=1/2 Cu2+ kagome antiferromagnet Herbertsmithite ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2 down to 45mK in magnetic fields ranging from 2T to 12T. While Herbertsmithite displays a gapless spin-liquid behavior in zero field, we uncover an instability toward a spin-solid phase at sub-kelvin temperature induced by an applied magnetic field. The latter phase shows largely suppressed moments $\lesssim 0.1\muB$ and gapped excitations. The H-T phase diagram suggests the existence of a quantum critical point at the small but finite magnetic field mu0 Hc=1.55(25)T. We discuss this finding in light of the perturbative Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction which was theoretically proposed to sustain a quantum critical regime for the quantum kagome Heisenberg antiferromagnet model.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Ground State and Intrinsic Susceptibility of the Kagome Antiferromagnet Vesignieite as seen by 51V NMR

The intrinsic magnetic susceptibility and local magnetization of the near-kagome quantum magnet vesignieite, Cu3BaV2O8(OH)2, are presented as measured using 51V NMR. The NMR line shift gives an accurate measurement of the intrinsic susceptibility of the kagome sites which closely resembles that of the quantum spin liquid herbertsmithite [A. Olariu et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 087202 (2008)]. It is therefore surprising that, at Tc ~ 9 K, a transition to a heterogeneous ground state is observed. A gradual wipeout of half the NMR intensity indicates a slowly fluctuating spin liquid component and a detailed analysis of the linewidth reveals the onset of static magnetism at the remaining half of the sites. It is proposed that this transition and unusual ground state originate from a nearby quantum critical point induced by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.

cond-mat.str-el↗