arXiv subjects

X. F. Sun

Publications and source records attributed to X. F. Sun.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Tunable quantum spin liquidity in the 1/6th-filled breathing kagome lattice

We present measurements on a series of materials, Li$_2$In$_{1-x}$Sc$_x$Mo$_3$O$_8$, that can be described as a 1/6th-filled breathing kagome lattice. Substituting Sc for In generates chemical pressure which alters the breathing parameter non-monotonically. $μ$SR experiments show that this chemical pressure tunes the system from antiferromagnetic long range order to a quantum spin liquid phase. A strong correlation with the breathing parameter implies that it is the dominant parameter controlling the level of magnetic frustration, with increased kagome symmetry generating the quantum spin liquid phase. Magnetic susceptibility measurements suggest that this is related to distinct types of charge order induced by changes in lattice symmetry, in line with the theory of Chen et al. [Phys. Rev. B 93, 245134 (2016)]. The specific heat for samples at intermediate Sc concentration and with minimal breathing parameter, show consistency with the predicted $U(1)$ quantum spin liquid.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Field Driven Quantum Criticality in the Spinel Magnet ZnCr$_2$Se$_4$

We report detailed dc and ac magnetic susceptibilities, specific heat, and thermal conductivity measurements on the frustrated magnet ZnCr$_2$Se$_4$. At low temperatures, with increasing magnetic field, this spinel material goes through a series of spin state transitions from the helix spin state to the spiral spin state and then to the fully polarized state. Our results indicate a direct quantum phase transition from the spiral spin state to the fully polarized state. As the system approaches the quantum criticality, we find strong quantum fluctuations of the spins with the behaviors such as an unconventional $T^2$-dependent specific heat and temperature independent mean free path for the thermal transport. We complete the full phase diagram of ZnCr$_2$Se$_4$ under the external magnetic field and propose the possibility of frustrated quantum criticality with extended densities of critical modes to account for the unusual low-energy excitations in the vicinity of the criticality. Our results reveal that ZnCr$_2$Se$_4$ is a rare example of 3D magnet exhibiting a field-driven quantum criticality with unconventional properties.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Magnetization, specific heat, and thermal conductivity of hexagonal ErMnO$_3$ single crystals

We report a study of magnetism and magnetic transitions of hexagonal ErMnO$_3$ single crystals by magnetization, specific heat and heat transport measurements. Magnetization data show that the $c$-axis magnetic field induces three magnetic transitions at 0.8, 12 and 28 T. The specific heat shows a peak at 2.2 K, which is due to a magnetic transition of Er$^{3+}$ moments. For low-$T$ thermal conductivity ($κ$), a clear dip-like feature appears in $κ(H)$ isotherm at 1--1.25 T for $H \parallel ab$; while in the case of $H \parallel c$, a step-like increase is observed at 0.5--0.8 T. The transition fields in $κ(H)$ are in good agreement with those obtained from magnetization, and the anomaly of $κ$ can be understood by a spin-phonon scattering scenario. The natures of magnetic structures and corresponding field-induced transitions at low temperatures are discussed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Ferroelectricity of structural origin in spin-chain compounds Ca$_3$Co$_{2-x}$Mn$_x$O$_6$

We report a systematic study of the structure, electric and magnetic properties of Ca$_3$Co$_{2-x}$Mn$_x$O$_6$ single crystals with $x =$ 0.72 and 0.26. The DC and AC magnetic susceptibilities display anomalies with characteristic of the spin freezing. The crystals show ferroelectric transition at 40 K and 35 K ($T_{FE}$) for $x =$ 0.72 and 0.26, respectively, with a large value of 1400 $μ$C/m$^2$ at 8 K for electric polarization ($P_c$) along the spin-chain ($c$-axis) direction. Interestingly, the electric polarization perpendicular to the chain direction ($P_{ab}$) can also be detected and has value of 450 and 500 $μ$C/m$^2$ at 8 K for the $x =$ 0.72 and 0.26 samples, respectively. The specific heat and magnetic susceptibility show no anomaly around $T_{FE}$, which means that the electric polarization of these samples has no direct relationship with the magnetism. The X-ray diffraction and the Raman spectroscopy indicate that these samples may undergo Jahn-Teller distortions that could be the reason of electric polarization.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Low-temperature heat transport of CuFe$_{1-x}$Ga$_x$O$_2$ ($x =$ 0--0.12) single crystals

We report a study on the thermal conductivity of CuFe$_{1-x}$Ga$_x$O$_2$ ($x =$ 0--0.12) single crystals at temperatures down to 0.3 K and in magnetic fields up to 14 T. CuFeO$_2$ is a well-known geometrically frustrated triangular lattice antiferromagnet and can be made to display multiferroicity either by applying magnetic field along the $c$ axis or by doping nonmagnetic impurities, accompanied with rich behaviors of magnetic phase transitions. The main experimental findings of this work are: (i) the thermal conductivities ($κ_a$ and $κ_c$) show drastic anomalies at temperature- or field-induced magnetic transitions; (ii) the low-$T$ $κ(H)$ isotherms exhibit irreversibility in a broad region of magnetic fields; (iii) there are phonon scattering effect caused by magnetic fluctuations at very low temperatures. These results demonstrate strong spin-phonon coupling in this material and reveal the non-negligible magnetic fluctuations in the "ground state" of pure and Ga-doped samples.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Ba8CoNb6O24: a spin-1/2 triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet in the 2D limit

The perovskite Ba8CoNb6O24 comprises equilateral effective spin-1/2 Co2+ triangular layers separated by six non-magnetic layers. Susceptibility, specific heat and neutron scattering measurements combined with high-temperature series expansions and spin-wave calculations confirm that Ba8CoNb6O24 is basically a twodimensional (2D) magnet with no detectable spin anisotropy and no long-range magnetic ordering down to 0.06 K. In other words, Ba8CoNb6O24 is very close to be a realization of the paradigmatic spin-1/2 triangular Heisenberg model, which is not expected to exhibit symmetry breaking at finite temperature according to the Mermin and Wagner theorem.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Heat switch effect in an antiferromagnetic insulator Co$_3$V$_2$O$_8$

We report a heat switch effect in single crystals of an antiferromagnet Co$_3$V$_2$O$_8$, that is, the thermal conductivity ($κ$) can be changed with magnetic field in an extremely large scale. Due to successive magnetic phase transitions at 12--6 K, the zero-field $κ(T)$ displays a deep minimum at 6.7 K and rather small magnitude at low temperatures. Both the temperature and field dependencies of $κ$ demonstrate that the phonons are strongly scattered at the regime of magnetic phase transitions. Magnetic field can suppress magnetic scattering effect and significantly recover the phonon thermal conductivity. In particular, a 14 T field along the $a$ axis increases the $κ$ at 7.5 K up to 100 times. For $H \parallel c$, the magnitude of $κ$ can be suppressed down to $\sim$ 8% at some field-induced transition and can be enhanced up to 20 times at 14 T. The present results demonstrate that it is possible to design a kind of heat switch in the family of magnetic materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Thermal conductivity of the diamond-chain compound Cu_3(CO_3)_2(OH)_2

Thermal conductivity (κ) of a distorted spin diamond-chain system, Cu_3(CO_3)_2(OH)_2, is studied at low temperatures down to 0.3 K and in magnetic fields up to 14 T. In zero field, the κ(T) curve with heat current along the chain direction has very small magnitudes and shows a pronounced three-peak structure. The magnetic fields along and perpendicular to the chains change the κstrongly in a way having good correspondence to the changes of magnetic specific heat in fields. The data analysis based on the Debye model for phononic thermal conductivity indicates that the heat transport is due to phonons and the three-peak structure is caused by two resonant scattering processes by the magnetic excitations. In particular, the spin excitations of the chain subsystem are strongly scattering phonons rather than transporting heat.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Low-temperature thermal conductivity of Dy_2Ti_2O_7 and Yb_2Ti_2O_7 single crystals

We study the low-temperature thermal conductivity (κ) of Dy_2Ti_2O_7 and Yb_2Ti_2O_7 single crystals in magnetic fields up to 14 T along the [111], [100] and [110] directions. The main experimental findings for Dy_2Ti_2O_7 are: (i) the low-T κ(H) isotherms exhibit not only the step-like decreases at the low-field (< 2 T) magnetic transitions but also obvious field dependencies in high fields (> 7 T); (ii) at T \le 0.5 K, the κ(H) curves show anisotropic irreversibility in low fields, that is, the κ(H) hysteresis locates at the first-order transition with H \parallel [100] and [110], while it locates between two successive transitions with H \parallel [111]; (iii) the κin the hysteresis loops for H \parallel [100] and [110] show an extremely slow relaxation with the time constant of \sim 1000 min. The main experimental findings for Yb_2Ti_2O_7 are: (i) the zero-field κ(T) show a kink-like decrease at the first-order transition (\sim 200 mK) with decreasing temperature; (ii) the low-T κ(H) isotherms show a decrease in low field and a large enhancement in high fields; (iii) the low-T κ(H) curves show a sharp minimum at 0.5 T for H \parallel [110] and [111]. The roles of monopole excitations, field-induced transitions, spin fluctuations and magnetoelastic coupling are discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Thermal conductivity of IPA-CuCl_3: Evidences of ballistic magnon transport and limited applicability of the Bose-Einstein condensation model

The heat transport of the spin-gapped material (CH_3)_2CHNH_3CuCl_3 (IPA-CuCl_3), a candidate quantum magnet with Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), is studied at ultra-low temperatures and in high magnetic fields. Due to the presence of the spin gap, the zero-field thermal conductivity (κ) is purely phononic and shows a ballistic behavior at T < 1 K. When the gap is closed by magnetic field at H = H_{c1}, where a long-range antiferromanetic (AF) order of Cu^{2+} moments is developed, the magnons contribute significantly to heat transport and exhibit a ballistic T^3 behavior at T < 600 mK. In addition, the low-T κ(H) isotherms show sharp peaks at H_{c1}, which indicates a gap re-opening in the AF state (H > H_{c1}) and demonstrates limited applicability of the BEC model to IPA-CuCl_3.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Low-temperature heat transport of Nd_{2-x}Ce_{x}CuO_{4} single crystals

We report a study of the Ce doping effect on the thermal conductivity (κ) of Nd_{2-x}Ce_{x}CuO_{4} (NCCO) at low temperatures down to 0.3 K and in magnetic fields up to 14 T. It is found that with Ce doping, the electronic thermal conductivity increases; at the same time, the a-axis field induced changes in κ(H), associated with the spin flop and spin polarization of Nd^{3+} sublattice, and the spin flop of Cu^{2+} sublattice, gradually disappear. These are clearly due to the electron doping and the destruction of the antiferromagnetic orders. In the superconducting NCCO with x = 0.14 and 0.18, although the electronic thermal conductivity shows sizable field dependencies with H // c, the paramagnetic scattering of phonons is still playing the dominant role in the heat transport, which is different from many other cuprates. In the lightly doped samples (x = 0.03 and 0.06), the low-T κ(H) isotherms with H // c show a step-like anomaly and is likely related to the spin/charge stripes.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Ground state and magnetic phase transitions of orthoferrite DyFeO_3

Low-temperature thermal conductivity (κ), as well as magnetization (M) and electric polarization (P), of multiferroic orthoferrite DyFeO_3 single crystals are studied with H \parallel c. When the crystal is cooled in zero field, M, P, and κall consistently exhibit irreversible magnetic-field dependencies. In particular, with 500 mK < T \le 2 K, all these properties show two transitions at the first run of increasing field but only the higher-field transition is present in the subsequent field sweepings. Moreover, the ultra-low-T (T < 500 mK) κ(H) shows a different irreversibility and there is only one transition when the field is swept both up and down. All the results indicate a complex low-T H-T phase diagram involving successive magnetic phase transitions of the Fe^{3+} spins. In particular, the ground state, obtained with cooling to subKelvin temperatures in zero field, is found to be an unexplored phase.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Low-temperature heat transport of the geometrically frustrated antiferromagnets R_2Ti_2O_7 (R = Gd and Er)

We report a systematic study on the low-temperature thermal conductivity (κ) of R_2Ti_2O_7 (R = Gd and Er) single crystals with different directions of magnetic field and heat current. It is found that the magnetic excitations mainly act as phonon scatterers rather than heat carriers, although these two materials have long-range magnetic orders at low temperatures. The low-T κ(H) isotherms of both compounds show rather complicated behaviors and have good correspondences with the magnetic transitions, where the κ(H) curves show drastic dip- or step-like changes. In comparison, the field dependencies of κare more complicated in Gd_2Ti_2O_7, due to the complexity of its low-T phase diagram and field-induced magnetic transitions. These results demonstrate the significant coupling between spins and phonons in these materials and the ability of heat-transport properties probing the magnetic transitions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Growth of (CH$_3$)$_2$NH$_2$CuCl$_3$ single crystals using evaporation method with different temperatures and solvents

The bulk single crystals of of low-dimensional magnet (CH$_3$)$_2$NH$_2$CuCl$_3$ (DMACuCl$_3$ or MCCL) are grown by a slow evaporation method with different kinds of solvents, different degrees of super-saturation of solution and different temperatures of solution, respectively. Among three kinds of solvent, methanol, alcohol and water, alcohol is found to be the best one for growing MCCL crystals because of its structural similarity to the raw materials and suitable evaporation rate. The best growth temperature is in the vicinity of 35 $^{\circ}$C. The problem of the crystals deliquescing in air has been solved through recrystallization process. The crystals are characterized by means of x-ray diffraction, specific heat and magnetic susceptibility.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Crystal growth and characterization of Haldane chain compound Ni(C$_3$H$_{10}$N$_2$)$_2$NO$_2$ClO$_4$

The bulk single crystals of $S = 1$ chain compound Ni(C$_3$H$_{10}$N$_2$)$_2$NO$_2$ClO$_4$ are grown by using a slow evaporation method at a constant temperature and a slow cooling method. It is found that the optimum condition of growing large crystals is via slow evaporation at 25 $^\circ$C using 0.015 mol Ni(ClO$_4$)$_2$$\cdot$6H$_2$O, 0.015 mol NaNO$_2$, and 0.03 mol 1,3-propanediamine liquid dissolved into 30 ml aqueous solvent. High-quality crystals with size up to $18 \times 7.5 \times 5$ mm$^3$ are obtained. The single crystals are characterized by measurements of x-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility, specific heat and thermal conductivity. The susceptibilities along three crystallographic axes are found to exhibit broad peaks at $\sim 55$ K, and then decrease abruptly to zero at lower temperatures, which is characteristic of a Haldane chain system. The specific heat and the thermal conductivity along the $c$ axis can be attributed to the simple phononic contribution and are analyzed using the Debye approximation.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Single crystal growth of the pyrochlores $R_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ ($R$ = rare earth) by the optical floating-zone method

We report a systematic study on the crystal growth of the rare-earth titanates $R_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ ($R$ = Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Y, Er, Yb and Lu) and Y-doped Tb$_{2-x}$Y$_x$Ti$_2$O$_7$ ($x$ = 0.2 and 1) using an optical floating-zone method. High-quality single crystals were successfully obtained and the growth conditions were carefully optimized. The oxygen pressure was found to be the most important parameter and the appropriate ones are 0.1--0.4 MPa, depending on the radius of rare-earth ions. The growth rate is another parameter and was found to be 2.5--4 mm/h for different rare-earth ions. X-ray diffraction data demonstrated the good crystallinity of these crystals. The basic physical properties of these crystals were characterized by the magnetic susceptibility and specific heat measurements.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Single crystal growth of the hexagonal manganites $R$MnO$_3$ ($R$ = rare earth) by the optical floating-zone method

We report a study on the crystal growth of the hexagonal manganites $R$MnO$_3$ ($R$ = Y, Lu, Ho, Er, and Tm) by using an optical floating-zone method. It was found that high-quality single crystals of $R$ = Y, Lu, and Ho could be easily grown with essentially the same conditions as those reported in literature, that is, with an atmosphere of normal pressure Ar and oxygen mixture and a growth rate of 2--4 mm/h. However, these conditions were not feasible for growing good crystals of $R$ = Er and Tm. The chemical analysis indicated that it was due to an off-stoichiometric phenomenon in the formed single crystals. We used an effective and simple way to resolve this problem by adjusting the nominal compositions of the polycrystal feed rods to be 1--$2\%$ rare-earth excess. The structures and physical properties were characterized by X-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility, specific heat, resistivity, and dielectric constant measurements.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Low-temperature thermal conductivity of antiferromagnetic S = 1/2 chain material CuCl_2$\cdot$2((CH_3)_2SO)

We study the heat transport of S = 1/2 chain compound CuCl_2$\cdot$2((CH_3)_2SO) along the b axis (vertical to the chain direction) at very low temperatures. The zero-field thermal conductivity (κ) shows a distinct kink at about 0.9 K, which is related to the long-range antiferromagnetic (AF) transition. With applying magnetic field along the c axis, κ(H) curves also show distinct changes at the phase boundaries between the AF and the high-field disordered states. These results indicate a strong spin-phonon interaction and the magnetic excitations play a role in the b-axis heat transport as phonon scatterers.

cond-mat.str-el↗