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We present a comprehensive study of the magnetic properties of the strongly anisotropic ferrimagnet ErFe5Al7 in pulsed magnetic fields up to 30 T applied along the hard magnetization axis within the basal plane of the tetragonal lattice around the compensation temperature (Tcomp). Macroscopic measurements showed two anomalies at about 8 T and 25 T in a small temperature range around Tcomp. High-field x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) data at the Er M5- and the Fe L3-edge resonances provide insight into the element-selective magnetization processes, revealing a coherent rotation of Er 4f and Fe 3d moments, with stepwise jumps including an unexpected one from an easy to a hard magnetization axis. XMCD at the Er L3-edge resonance elucidates the role of Er 5d electrons in coupling the Er 4f and the Fe 3d moments. Finally, an in-plane anisotropy constant was evaluated from a simulation of the magnetization process at temperatures well below Tcomp using a two-sublattice model.

Strongly correlated spin systems can be driven to quantum critical points via various routes. In particular, gapped quantum antiferromagnets can undergo phase transitions into a magnetically ordered state with applied pressure or magnetic field, acting as tuning parameters. These transitions are characterized by z = 1 or z = 2 dynamical critical exponents, determined by the linear and quadratic low-energy dispersion of spin excitations, respectively. Employing high-frequency susceptibility and ultrasound techniques,we demonstrate that the tetragonal easy-plane quantum antiferromagnet NiCl2 ⋅ 4SC(NH2)2 (aka DTN) undergoes a spin-gap closure transition at about 4.2 kbar, resulting in a pressure-induced magnetic ordering. The studies are complemented by high-pressure electron-spin-resonance measurements confirming the proposed scenario. Powder neutron diffraction measurements revealed that no lattice distortion occurs at this pressure and the high spin symmetry is preserved, establishing DTN as a perfect platform to investigate z = 1 quantum critical phenomena. The experimental observations are supported by DMRG calculations, allowing us to quantitatively describe the pressure-driven evolution of critical fields and spin-Hamiltonian parameters in DTN.

CoNb2O6 is a model system for a spin-1/2 one-dimensional (1D) transverse-field Ising magnet (TFIM) with a rather low three-dimensional (3D) Néel ordering temperature at TN = 2.95 K. We studied CoNb2O6 using ultrasound measurements down to 0.3 K in transverse magnetic fields applied along the b direction. Upon entering the 3D ordered state, we observe pronounced anomalies in the transverse acoustic mode c66. In particular, from 1.3 to 1.5 K and around 4.7 T, this mode reveals an almost diverging softening, which is considerably reduced at lower and higher magnetic fields. We interpret this as an influence of quantum critical fluctuations emerging from the quantum critical point (QCP) of the 1D Ising spin chains at about 4.75 T, which lies below the QCP of the 3D ordering at about 5.4 T. This is clear experimental evidence of the predicted generic phase diagram for a TFIM with superimposed 3D ordering.

We present an overview of selected copper-based quasi-2D square-lattice spin-1/2 materials with an easy-plane anisotropy, providing the possibility to study emergent Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) correlations. In particular, in those materials with a comparatively small exchange coupling, the effective XY anisotropy of the low-temperature spin correlations can be controlled by an applied magnetic field, yielding a systematic evolution of the BKT correlations. In cases where the residual interlayer correlations are small enough, dynamical BKT correlations in the critical regime may be observed experimentally, whereas the completion of the genuine BKT transition is preempted by the onset of long-range order.

We measured the elastic constants (C11 − C12) /2 and C44 of the non-Kramers system Y0.92Pr0.08Ir2Zn20 (Pr-8% system) by means of ultrasound to check how the single-site quadrupolar Kondo effect is modulated by increasing the Pr concentration. In the Pr-8% system, a temperature dependence proportional to √T is observed in (C11 − C12) /2 below ∼ 0.5 K. This behavior rather corresponds to the theoretical prediction of the quadrupolar Kondo virtual “lattice” model, unlike that of a Pr-3.4% system, which shows a logarithmic temperature dependence based on the “single-site” quadrupolar Kondo theory. Such temperature dependence proportional to √T is also observed in a Pr-37% system below 0.15 K, which suggests that a crossover of the quantum ground state from the “single-site” model to the “lattice” model occurs as the localized quadrupolar interaction cannot be ignored with increasing Pr concentration.

We report the manifestation of field-induced Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) correlations in the weakly coupled spin-1/2 Heisenberg layers of the molecular-based bulk material [Cu(pz)2(2-HOpy]2)(PF6)2. At zero field, a transition to long-range order occurs at 1.38 K, caused by a weak intrinsic easy-plane anisotropy and an interlayer exchange of J´/kB ≈ 1 mK. Because of the moderate intralayer exchange coupling of J/kB = 6.8 K, the application of laboratory magnetic fields induces a substantial XY anisotropy of the spin correlations. Crucially, this provides a significant BKT regime, as the tiny interlayer exchange J0 only induces 3D correlations upon close approach to the BKT transition with its exponential growth in the spin-correlation length. We employ nuclear magnetic resonance measurements to probe the spin correlations that determine the critical temperatures of the BKT transition as well as that of the onset of long-range order. Further, we perform stochastic series expansion quantum Monte Carlo simulations based on the experimentally determined model parameters. Finite-size scaling of the in-plane spin stiffness yields excellent agreement of critical temperatures between theory and experiment, providing clear evidence that the nonmonotonic magnetic phase diagram of [Cu(pz)2(2-HOpy]2)(PF6)2 is determined by the field-tuned XY anisotropy and the concomitant BKT physics.

The rising interest in increased manufacturing maturity of quantum processing units is pushing the development of alternative superconducting materials for semiconductor fab process technology. However, these are often facing CMOS process incompatibility. In contrast to common CMOS materials, such as Al, TiN, and TaN, reports on the superconductivity of other suitable transition-metal nitrides are scarce, despite potential superiority. Here, we demonstrate fully CMOS-compatible fabrication of HfN and ZrN thin films on state-of-the-art 300mm semiconductor process equipment, utilizing reactive DC magnetron sputtering on silicon wafers. Measurement of mechanical stress and surface roughness of the thin films demonstrates process compatibility. We investigated the materials phase and stoichiometry by structural analysis. The HfN and ZrN samples exhibit superconducting phase transitions with critical temperatures up to 5.84 and 7.32 K, critical fields of 1.73 and 6.40 T, and coherence lengths of 14 and 7 nm, respectively. A decrease in the critical temperature with decreasing film thickness indicates mesoscopic behavior due to geometric and grain-size limitations. The results promise a scalable application of HfN and ZrN in quantum computing and related fields.

We examined the magnetic ground state of the pyrochlore spin-ice compounds Pr2Hf2O7 and Ho2Ti2O7 by means of specific-heat, magnetization, and ac-susceptibility measurements in the mK regime. At these low temperatures, we observe an unexpected large specific heat and corresponding entropy, which diminish in applied magnetic fields. This evidences the presence of additional states beyond the electronic spin and orbital degrees of freedom. We can qualitatively explain the large specific heat by the coupling of the nuclear spins of 141Pr and 165Ho with their electronic counterparts, which leads to a complex hyperfine-coupled term scheme. With increasing fields, the nuclear and electronic spins decouple leaving only the electronic excitations in the measured temperature window. At intermediate fields, a rather evolved term scheme emerges that may explain the unusual hysteretic magnetization and a remarkable state with a negative magnetization found for Ho2Ti2O7. Our findings bring deep insights to the complex ground state of pyrochlore spin-ice compounds and their low-energy excitations.

We report on ultrasonic and magnetocaloric-effect measurements of the hexagonal antiferromagnet Dy3Ru4Al12 having a distorted kagome lattice. We observed a pronounced softening of the transverse modulus, C44, above 30 T applied along [100], indicating an as-yet-unidentified magnetic field induced phase transition. We determined the field-temperature phase diagrams using pulsed magnetic fields up to 55.2 T, applied along [100] and [001]. Optimizing crystal-electric-field parameters within the mean-field approximation, we conclude that the enhancement of the field induced phase-transition temperature is due to electric quadrupolar and magnetic octupolar mediated interactions. We propose that the order parameter of the magnetic field induced phase transitions is the electric quadrupole Ozx, facilitated by octupole-mediated interactions.

We present an overview of selected copper-based quasi-2D square-lattice spin-1/2 materials with an easy-plane anisotropy, providing the possibility to study emergent Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) correlations. In particular, in those materials with a comparatively small exchange coupling, the effective XY anisotropy of the low-temperature spin correlations can be controlled by an applied magnetic field, yielding a systematic evolution of the BKT correlations. In cases where the residual interlayer correlations are small enough, dynamical BKT correlations in the critical regime may be observed experimentally, whereas the completion of the genuine BKT transition is preempted by the onset of long-range order.

In magnetischen Materialien „frieren“ die magnetischen Momente üblicherweise in wohlgeordneten oder glasartigen Strukturen ein. Quanteneffekte können dazu führen, dass diese Strukturen „schmelzen“ und die Spinflüssigkeit selbst am absoluten Nullpunkt nicht ordnet.

We investigated the elastic properties of Y1−xNdxCo2Zn20 with localized Nd f electrons and ground-state Kramers doublet. All longitudinal and transverse moduli of NdCo2Zn20 (x = 1) show an elastic softening below 50 K accompanied by a minimum around 2.5 K. The softening, which is robust to magnetic fields up to 8 T, is not observed for samples with Nd concentrations of x = 0.19, 0.05, and 0. In localized f electron systems, elastic softening from high temperatures is often understood by crystal electric field effects; however, this cannot explain the behavior in NdCo2Zn20. Our experimental and calculated results reveal that the softening neither is caused by a phonon contribution, a Nd3+ single-site effect, nor a magnetic interaction. We conclude that the softening is due to a local-symmetry-sensitive electronic state in NdCo2Zn20.

Consolidating a microscopic understanding of magnetic properties is crucial for a rational design of magnetic materials with tailored characteristics. The interplay of 3d and 4f magnetism in rare-earth transition metal antimonides is an ideal platform to search for such complex behavior. Here the synthesis, crystal growth, structure, and complex magnetic properties are reported of the new compound Pr3Fe3Sb7 as studied by magnetization and electrical transport measurements in static and pulsed magnetic fields up to 56 T, powder neutron diffraction, and Mößbauer spectroscopy. On cooling without external magnetic field, Pr3Fe3Sb

The performance of iron-based superconductors in high magnetic fields plays an important role for their practical application. In this work, we measured the magnetostriction and magnetization of BaFe1.908Ni0.092As2 single crystals using pulsed magnetic fields up to 60 T and static magnetic fields up to 33 T, respectively. A huge longitudinal magnetostriction (of the order of 10–4) was observed in the direction of twin boundaries. The magnetization measurements evidence a high critical-current density due to strong bulk pinning. By using magnetization data with an exponential flux-pinning model, we can reproduce the magnetostriction curves qualitatively. This result shows that the magnetostriction of BaFe1.908Ni0.092As2 can be well explained by a flux-pinning-induced mechanism.

We studied the high-field phase diagram of a chiral-lattice antiferromagnet Sr(TiO)Cu4PO4)4 by means of ultrasound, dielectric, and magnetocaloric-effect measurements. These experimental techniques reveal two new phase transitions at high fields, which have not been resolved by previous magnetization experiments. Specifically, the c66 acoustic mode shows drastic changes with hysteresis for magnetic fields applied along the c axis, indicating a strong magnetoelastic coupling. Combined with cluster mean-field theory, we discuss the origin of these phase transitions. By considering the chiral-twist effect of Cu4O12 cupola units, which is inherent to the chiral crystal structure, the phase diagram is reasonably reproduced. The agreement between experiment and theory suggests that this material is a unique quasi-two-dimensional spin system with competing exchange interactions and chirality, leading to a rich phase diagram.

Magnetic fields are key ingredients for heating the solar corona to temperatures of several million Kelvin. A particularly important region with respect to this is the so-called magnetic canopy below the corona, where sound and Alfvén waves have roughly the same speed and can, therefore, easily transform into each other. We present the results of an Alfvén-wave experiment with liquid rubidium carried out in a pulsed field of up to 63 T. At the critical point of 54 T, where the speeds of Alfvén waves and sound coincide, a new 4 kHz signal appears in addition to the externally excited 8 kHz torsional wave. This emergence of an Alfvén wave with a doubled period is in agreement with the theoretical predictions of a parametric resonance between the two wave types. We also present preliminary results from numerical simulations of Alfvén and magneto-sonic waves using a compressible MHD code.

We measured the elastic constants (C11 − C12) /2 and C44 of the non-Kramers system Y0.92Pr0.08Ir2Zn20 (Pr-8% system) by means of ultrasound to check how the single-site quadrupolar Kondo effect is modulated by increasing the Pr concentration. In the Pr-8% system, a temperature dependence proportional to √T is observed in (C11 − C12) /2 below ∼ 0.5 K. This behavior rather corresponds to the theoretical prediction of the quadrupolar Kondo virtual “lattice” model, unlike that of a Pr-3.4% system, which shows a logarithmic temperature dependence based on the “single-site” quadrupolar Kondo theory. Such temperature dependence proportional to √T is also observed in a Pr-37% system below 0.15 K, which suggests that a crossover of the quantum ground state from the “single-site” model to the “lattice” model occurs as the localized quadrupolar interaction cannot be ignored with increasing Pr concentration.

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Magnetic fields are key ingredients for heating the solar corona to temperatures of several million Kelvin. A particularly important region with respect to this is the so-called magnetic canopy below the corona, where sound and Alfv\'en waves have roughly the same speed and can, therefore, easily transform into each other. We present the results of an Alfv\'en-wave experiment with liquid rubidium carried out in a pulsed field of up to 63 T. At the critical point of 54 T, where the speeds of Alfv\'en waves and sound coincide, a new 4 kHz signal appears in addition to the externally excited 8 kHz torsional wave. This emergence of an Alfv\'en wave with a doubled period is in agreement with the theoretical predictions of a parametric resonance between the two wave types. We also present preliminary results from numerical simulations of Alfv\'en and magneto-sonic waves using a compressible MHD code., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures

We report on comprehensive investigations of Er3Al2 exhibiting a number of magnetic states. We observe three spontaneous antiferromagnetic transitions at 10, 14, and 24 K. Furthermore, our high-field magnetization and sound-velocity measurements reveal a number of crystal-electric-field (CEF) transitions. Additionally, the velocity of transverse acoustic waves shows a pronounced softening with decreasing temperature in the paramagnetic state. A CEF model that includes quadrupolar interactions explains the observed magnetic and elastic properties and provides a CEF scheme of Er3Al2. However, to explain some of the observations, a refined, more sophisticated model needs to be developed.

We report on comprehensive investigations of Er3Al2 exhibiting a number of magnetic states. We observe three spontaneous antiferromagnetic transitions at 10, 14, and 24 K. Furthermore, our high-field magnetization and sound-velocity measurements reveal a number of crystal-electric-field (CEF) transitions. Additionally, the velocity of transverse acoustic waves shows a pronounced softening with decreasing temperature in the paramagnetic state. A CEF model that includes quadrupolar interactions explains the observed magnetic and elastic properties and provides a CEF scheme of Er3Al2. However, to explain some of the observations, a refined, more sophisticated model needs to be developed.

The quantum limit (QL) of an electron liquid, realised at strong magnetic fields, has long been proposed to host a wealth of strongly correlated states of matter. Electronic states in the QL are, for example, quasi-one dimensional (1D), which implies perfectly nested Fermi surfaces prone to instabilities. Whereas the QL typically requires unreachably strong magnetic fields, the topological semimetal ZrTe5 has been shown to reach the QL at fields of only a few Tesla. Here, we characterize the QL of ZrTe5 at fields up to 64 T by a combination of electrical-transport and ultrasound measurements. We find that the Zeeman effect in ZrTe5 enables an efficient tuning of the 1D Landau band structure with magnetic field. This results in a Lifshitz transition to a 1D Weyl regime in which perfect charge neutrality can be achieved. Since no instability-driven phase transitions destabilise the 1D electron liquid for the investigated field strengths and temperatures, our analysis establishes ZrTe5 as a thoroughly understood platform for potentially inducing more exotic interaction-driven phases at lower temperatures.

In insulators, the longitudinal resistivity becomes infinitely large at zero temperature. For classical insulators, the Hall conductivity becomes zero at the same time. However, there are special systems, such as two-dimensional quantum Hall insulators, in which a more complex scenario is observed at high magnetic fields. Here, we report experimental evidence for a quasiquantized Hall insulator in the quantum limit of the three-dimensional compound SrSi2. Our measurements reveal a magnetic-field range, in which the longitudinal resistivity diverges with decreasing temperature, while the Hall conductivity approaches a quasiquantized value that is given only by the conductance quantum and the Fermi wave vector in the field direction. The quasiquantized Hall insulator appears in a magnetic field induced insulating ground state of three-dimensional materials and is deeply rooted in quantum Hall physics.

Skyrmionic materials hold the potential for future information technologies, such as racetrack memories. Key to that advancement are systems that exhibit high tunability and scalability, with stored information being easy to read and write by means of all-electrical techniques. Topological magnetic excitations such as skyrmions and antiskyrmions, give rise to a characteristic topological Hall effect. However, the electrical detection of antiskyrmions, in both thin films and bulk samples has been challenging to date. Here, we apply magneto-optical microscopy combined with electrical transport to explore the antiskyrmion phase as it emerges in crystalline mesoscale structures of the Heusler magnet Mn1.4PtSn. We reveal the Hall signature of antiskyrmions in line with our theoretical model, comprising anomalous and topological components. We examine its dependence on the vertical device thickness, field orientation, and temperature. Our atomistic simulations and experimental anisotropy studies demonstrate the link between antiskyrmions and a complex magnetism that consists of competing ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic, and chiral exchange interactions, not captured by micromagnetic simulations.

We have studied the microscopic magnetic properties, the nature of the 130 K phase transition, and the ground state in the recently synthesized compound Ce

U3Cu4Ge4 is a uniaxial ferromagnet that displays a first-order magnetization process (FOMP) at 25 T for field applied along the hard b axis. Here, we report on ultrasound and magnetostriction measurements of U3Cu4Ge4 in static and pulsed magnetic fields up to 40 T. The FOMP causes stepwise anomalies in the magnetoelastic properties. U3Cu4Ge4 elongates along the a and c axes and shrinks along the b axis, leading to an almost zero volume effect. The sound velocities of the longitudinal and transverse acoustic waves decrease sharply at the FOMP, whereas the sound attenuation shows pronounced peaks. An analysis of the ultrasound data using a mean-field theory suggests the existence of quadrupolar interactions and crystal-electric-field effects. The 5 f electronic states are between itinerant and localized, typical of uranium-based intermetallic compounds.

PtGa is a topological semimetal with giant spin-split Fermi arcs. Here, we report on angular-dependent de Haas–van Alphen (dHvA) measurements combined with band-structure calculations to elucidate the details of the bulk Fermi surface of PtGa. The strong spin–orbit coupling leads to eight bands crossing the Fermi energy that form a multitude of Fermi surfaces with closed extremal orbits and results in very rich dHvA spectra. The large number of experimentally observed dHvA frequencies make the assignment to the equally large number of calculated dHvA orbits challenging. Nevertheless, we find consistency between experiment and calculations verifying the topological character with maximal Chern number of the spin-split Fermi surface.

The nature of the Fermi surface observed in the recently discovered family of unconventional insulators starting with SmB6 is a subject of intense inquiry. Here we shed light on this question by accessing quantum oscillations in the high magnetic field-induced metallic regime above ≈47 T in YbB12, which we compare with the unconventional insulating regime. In the field-induced metallic regime, we find prominent quantum oscillations in the electrical resistivity characterised by multiple frequencies and heavy effective masses. The close similarity in Lifshitz-Kosevich low-temperature growth of quantum oscillation amplitude in insulating YbB12 to field-induced metallic YbB12, points to an origin of quantum oscillations in insulating YbB12 from in-gap neutral low energy excitations. Higher frequency Fermi surface sheets of heavy quasiparticle effective mass emerge in the field-induced metallic regime of YbB12 in addition to multiple heavy Fermi surface sheets observed in both insulating and metallic regimes. f-electron hybridisation is thus observed to persist from the unconventional insulating to the field-induced metallic regime of YbB12, in contrast to the unhybridised conduction electron Fermi surface observed in unconventional insulating SmB6. Our findings thus require an alternative model for YbB12, of neutral in-gap low energy excitations, wherein the f-electron hybridisation is retained.

We present de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) measurements on an Eu-based valence-fluctuating system. EuIr2Si2 exhibits a temperature-dependent, noninteger europium valence with Eu2.8+ at low temperatures. The comparison of experimental results from our magnetic-torque experiments in fields up to 32 T and density functional theory band-structure calculations with localized 4f electrons shows that the best agreement is reached for a Fermi surface based on a valence of Eu2.8+. The calculated quantum-oscillation frequencies for Eu3+ instead cannot explain all the experimentally observed frequencies. The effective masses, derived from the temperature dependence of the dHvA oscillation amplitudes, show not only a significant enhancement with masses up to 11 me (me being the free electron mass), but also a magnetic-field dependence of the heaviest mass. We attribute the formation of these heavy masses to strong correlation effects resulting from valence fluctuations of 4f electrons being strongly hybridized with conduction electrons. The increase of the heavy masses with magnetic field likely results from the onset of the expected field-induced valence crossover that enhances these valence fluctuations but does not alter the Fermi-surface topology in the field range studied.

Crystal structures with degenerate electronic orbitals are unstable towards lattice distortions that lift the degeneracy. Although these Jahn–Teller distortions have profound effects on magnetism, they are typically unaffected by the onset of magnetic ordering because of a separation in energy scales. Here we show the contrary case in Pr2Zr2O7, where orbital degeneracy remains down to the millikelvin range due to an interplay between spins and orbitals. Pr2Zr2O7 is a multipolar spin ice with strongly localized 4f electrons in an even-number configuration, giving rise to a non-Kramers doublet that carries transverse quadrupolar and longitudinal dipolar moments. Our study of ultrapure single crystals of Pr2Zr2O7 finds comprehensive evidence for enhanced spin–orbital quantum dynamics of the non-Kramers doublet. This dynamical Jahn–Teller effect is encapsulated by the liquid–gas metamagnetic transition that is characteristic of spin ice being accompanied by strong lattice softening. This behaviour suggests that a spin–orbital liquid state forms on the pyrochlore lattice at low temperatures and low magnetic fields.

U3Cu4Ge4 is a uniaxial ferromagnet that displays a first-order magnetization process (FOMP) at 25 T for field applied along the hard b axis. Here, we report on ultrasound and magnetostriction measurements of U3Cu4Ge4 in static and pulsed magnetic fields up to 40 T. The FOMP causes stepwise anomalies in the magnetoelastic properties. U3Cu4Ge4 elongates along the a and c axes and shrinks along the b axis, leading to an almost zero volume effect. The sound velocities of the longitudinal and transverse acoustic waves decrease sharply at the FOMP, whereas the sound attenuation shows pronounced peaks. An analysis of the ultrasound data using a mean-field theory suggests the existence of quadrupolar interactions and crystal-electric-field effects. The 5 f electronic states are between itinerant and localized, typical of uranium-based intermetallic compounds.

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The most well-known example of an ordered quantum state—superconductivity—is caused by the formation and condensation of pairs of electrons. Fundamentally, what distinguishes a superconducting state from a normal state is a spontaneously broken symmetry corresponding to the long-range coherence of pairs of electrons, leading to zero resistivity and diamagnetism. Here we report a set of experimental observations in hole-doped Ba1−xKxFe2As2. Our specific-heat measurements indicate the formation of fermionic bound states when the temperature is lowered from the normal state. However, when the doping level is x ≈ 0.8, instead of the characteristic onset of diamagnetic screening and zero resistance expected below the superconducting phase transition, we observe the opposite effect: the generation of self-induced magnetic fields in the resistive state, measured by spontaneous Nernst effect and muon spin rotation experiments. This combined evidence indicates the existence of a bosonic metal state in which Cooper pairs of electrons lack coherence, but the system spontaneously breaks time-reversal symmetry. The observations are consistent with the theory of a state with fermionic quadrupling, in which long-range order exists not between Cooper pairs but only between pairs of pairs.

The compound ZrTe5 has recently been connected to a charge-density-wave (CDW) state with intriguing transport properties. Here, we investigate quantum oscillations in ultrasound measurements that microscopically originate from electron-phonon coupling and analyze how these would be affected by the presence or absence of a CDW. We calculate the phonon self-energy due to electron-phonon coupling, and from there deduce the sound-velocity renormalization and sound attenuation. We find that the theoretical predictions for a metallic Dirac model resemble the experimental data on a quantitative level for magnetic fields up to the quantum-limit regime.

Quantum spin liquids are exotic states of matter that form when strongly frustrated magnetic interactions induce a highly entangled quantum paramagnet far below the energy scale of the magnetic interactions. Three-dimensional cases are especially challenging due to the significant reduction of the influence of quantum fluctuations. Here, we report the magnetic characterization of K2Ni2(SO4)3 forming a three-dimensional network of Ni2+ spins. Using density functional theory calculations, we show that this network consists of two interconnected spin-1 trillium lattices. In the absence of a magnetic field, magnetization, specific heat, neutron scattering, and muon spin relaxation experiments demonstrate a highly correlated and dynamic state, coexisting with a peculiar, very small static component exhibiting a strongly renormalized moment. A magnetic field B ≳ 4 T diminishes the ordered component and drives the system into a pure quantum spin liquid state. This shows that a system of interconnected S = 1 trillium lattices exhibits a significantly elevated level of geometrical frustration.

We report on the electronic and thermodynamic properties of the antiferromagnetic metal uranium mononitride with a Néel temperature TN ≈ 53 K. The fabrication of microstructures from single crystals enables us to study the low-temperature metamagnetic transition at approximately 58 T by high-precision magnetotransport, Halleffect, and magnetic-torque measurements.We confirm the evolution of the high-field transition from a broad and complex behavior to a sharp first-order-like step, associated with a spin flop at low temperature. In the high-field state, the magnetic contribution to the temperature dependence of the resistivity is suppressed completely. It evolves into an almost quadratic dependence at low temperatures indicative of a metallic character. Our detailed investigation of the Hall effect provides evidence for a prominent Fermi-surface reconstruction as the system is pushed into the high-field state.

We present acoustic signatures of the electric quadrupolar degrees of freedom in the honeycomb-layer compound UNi4B. The transverse ultrasonic mode C-66 shows softening below 30 K both in the paramagnetic phase and antiferromagnetic phases down to similar to 0.33 K. Furthermore, we traced magnetic field-temperature phase diagrams up to 30 T and observed a highly anisotropic elastic response within the honeycomb layer. These observations strongly suggest that Gamma(6) (E-2g) electric quadrupolar degrees of freedom in localized 5f(2) (J = 4) states are playing an important role in the magnetic toroidal dipole order and magnetic-field-induced phases of UNi4 B, and evidence some of the U ions remain in the paramagnetic state even if the system undergoes magnetic toroidal ordering.

The most well-known example of an ordered quantum state—superconductivity—is caused by the formation and condensation of pairs of electrons. Fundamentally, what distinguishes a superconducting state from a normal state is a spontaneously broken symmetry corresponding to the long-range coherence of pairs of electrons, leading to zero resistivity and diamagnetism. Here we report a set of experimental observations in hole-doped Ba1−xKxFe2As2. Our specific-heat measurements indicate the formation of fermionic bound states when the temperature is lowered from the normal state. However, when the doping level is x ≈ 0.8, instead of the characteristic onset of diamagnetic screening and zero resistance expected below the superconducting phase transition, we observe the opposite effect: the generation of self-induced magnetic fields in the resistive state, measured by spontaneous Nernst effect and muon spin rotation experiments. This combined evidence indicates the existence of a bosonic metal state in which Cooper pairs of electrons lack coherence, but the system spontaneously breaks time-reversal symmetry. The observations are consistent with the theory of a state with fermionic quadrupling, in which long-range order exists not between Cooper pairs but only between pairs of pairs., QC 20220523

The most well-known example of an ordered quantum state—superconductivity—is caused by the formation and condensation of pairs of electrons. Fundamentally, what distinguishes a superconducting state from a normal state is a spontaneously broken symmetry corresponding to the long-range coherence of pairs of electrons, leading to zero resistivity and diamagnetism. Here we report a set of experimental observations in hole-doped Ba1−xKxFe2As2. Our specific-heat measurements indicate the formation of fermionic bound states when the temperature is lowered from the normal state. However, when the doping level is x ≈ 0.8, instead of the characteristic onset of diamagnetic screening and zero resistance expected below the superconducting phase transition, we observe the opposite effect: the generation of self-induced magnetic fields in the resistive state, measured by spontaneous Nernst effect and muon spin rotation experiments. This combined evidence indicates the existence of a bosonic metal state in which Cooper pairs of electrons lack coherence, but the system spontaneously breaks time-reversal symmetry. The observations are consistent with the theory of a state with fermionic quadrupling, in which long-range order exists not between Cooper pairs but only between pairs of pairs.

The compound ZrTe5 has recently been connected to a charge-density-wave (CDW) state with intriguing transport properties. Here, we investigate quantum oscillations in ultrasound measurements that microscopically originate from electron-phonon coupling and analyze how these would be affected by the presence or absence of a CDW. We calculate the phonon self-energy due to electron-phonon coupling, and from there deduce the sound-velocity renormalization and sound attenuation. We find that the theoretical predictions for a metallic Dirac model resemble the experimental data on a quantitative level for magnetic fields up to the quantum-limit regime.

We report on the electronic and thermodynamic properties of the antiferromagnetic metal uranium mononitride with a Néel temperature TN ≈ 53 K. The fabrication of microstructures from single crystals enables us to study the low-temperature metamagnetic transition at approximately 58 T by high-precision magnetotransport, Halleffect, and magnetic-torque measurements.We confirm the evolution of the high-field transition from a broad and complex behavior to a sharp first-order-like step, associated with a spin flop at low temperature. In the high-field state, the magnetic contribution to the temperature dependence of the resistivity is suppressed completely. It evolves into an almost quadratic dependence at low temperatures indicative of a metallic character. Our detailed investigation of the Hall effect provides evidence for a prominent Fermi-surface reconstruction as the system is pushed into the high-field state.

Quantum spin liquids are exotic states of matter that form when strongly frustrated magnetic interactions induce a highly entangled quantum paramagnet far below the energy scale of the magnetic interactions. Three-dimensional cases are especially challenging due to the significant reduction of the influence of quantum fluctuations. Here, we report the magnetic characterization of K2Ni2(SO4)3 forming a three-dimensional network of Ni2+ spins. Using density functional theory calculations, we show that this network consists of two interconnected spin-1 trillium lattices. In the absence of a magnetic field, magnetization, specific heat, neutron scattering, and muon spin relaxation experiments demonstrate a highly correlated and dynamic state, coexisting with a peculiar, very small static component exhibiting a strongly renormalized moment. A magnetic field B ≳ 4 T diminishes the ordered component and drives the system into a pure quantum spin liquid state. This shows that a system of interconnected S = 1 trillium lattices exhibits a significantly elevated level of geometrical frustration.

We report on high-field electron spin resonance studies of two iridium hexahalide compounds (NH4)2IrCl6 and K2IrCl6. In the paramagnetic state, our measurements reveal isotropic g factors g = 1.79(1) for the Ir4+ ions, in agreement with their cubic symmetries. Most importantly, in the magnetically ordered state, we observe two magnon modes with zero-field gaps of 11.3 and 14.2 K for (NH4)2IrCl6 and K2IrCl6, respectively. Based on that and using linear spin-wave theory, we estimate the nearest-neighbor exchange couplings and anisotropic Kitaev interactions J1/kB = 10.3 K, K/kB = 0.7 K for (NH4)2IrCl6, and J1/kB = 13.8 K, K/k

The most well-known example of an ordered quantum state—superconductivity—is caused by the formation and condensation of pairs of electrons. Fundamentally, what distinguishes a superconducting state from a normal state is a spontaneously broken symmetry corresponding to the long-range coherence of pairs of electrons, leading to zero resistivity and diamagnetism. Here we report a set of experimental observations in hole-doped Ba1−xKxFe2As2. Our specific-heat measurements indicate the formation of fermionic bound states when the temperature is lowered from the normal state. However, when the doping level is x ≈ 0.8, instead of the characteristic onset of diamagnetic screening and zero resistance expected below the superconducting phase transition, we observe the opposite effect: the generation of self-induced magnetic fields in the resistive state, measured by spontaneous Nernst effect and muon spin rotation experiments. This combined evidence indicates the existence of a bosonic metal state in which Cooper pairs of electrons lack coherence, but the system spontaneously breaks time-reversal symmetry. The observations are consistent with the theory of a state with fermionic quadrupling, in which long-range order exists not between Cooper pairs but only between pairs of pairs.

We report Alfvén-wave experiments with liquid rubidium at the Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory (HLD). Reaching up to 63 T, the pulsed magnetic field exceeds the critical value of 54 T at which the Alfvén speed coincides with the sound speed. At this threshold we observe a period doubling of an applied 8 kHz CW excitation, which is consistent with the theoretical expectation of a parametric resonance between magnetosonic waves and Alfvén waves. Similar mode conversions are discussed as a possible mechanism for heating the solar corona.

Hydrogen has the largest gravimetric energy density among all chemical fuels. At the same time, the density of gaseous H2 is extremely low, which makes its compression to high pressures, liquefaction, or solid-state storage necessary for transport purposes. Liquid hydrogen (LH2) can be transported in a dewar under atmospheric pressure, but this requires energy-intensive cooling down to 20 K. Magnetocaloric materials have great potential to revolutionize gas liquefaction to make LH2 more competitive as fuel. In this paper, we investigate a series of Laves-phase materials regarding their structural, magnetic, and magnetocaloric properties in high magnetic fields. The three compounds HoAl2, Ho0.5Dy0.5Al2, and DyAl2 are suited for building a stack for cooling from liquid-nitrogen temperature (77 K) down to the boiling point of hydrogen at 20 K. This is evident from our direct measurements of the adiabatic temperature change in pulsed magnetic fields, which we compare with calorimetric data measured in a static field. With this methodology, we are now able to study the suitability of magnetocaloric materials down to low temperatures up to the highest magnetic fields of 50 T.

The ferrimagnetic spinel MnCr2S4 shows a variety of magnetic-field-induced phase transitions owing to bond frustration and strong spin-lattice coupling. However, the site-resolved magnetic properties at the respective field-induced phases in high magnetic fields remain elusive. Our soft x-ray magnetic circular dichroism studies up to 40 T directly evidence element-selective magnetic-moment reorientations in the field-induced phases. The complex magnetic structures are further supported by entropy changes extracted from magnetocaloric-effect measurements. Moreover, thermodynamic experiments reveal an unusual tetracritical point in the H-T phase diagram of MnCr2S4 due to strong spin-lattice coupling.