Magnetotransport of single crystal Sm$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ across the pressure-induced quantum-critical phase boundary

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Coak, M. J., Götze, K., De La Fuente, T. Northam, Castelnovo, C., Tidey, J. P., Singleton, J., Boothroyd, A. T., Prabhakaran, D., Goddard, P. A.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2022
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author Coak, M. J.
Götze, K.
De La Fuente, T. Northam
Castelnovo, C.
Tidey, J. P.
Singleton, J.
Boothroyd, A. T.
Prabhakaran, D.
Goddard, P. A.
author_facet Coak, M. J.
Götze, K.
De La Fuente, T. Northam
Castelnovo, C.
Tidey, J. P.
Singleton, J.
Boothroyd, A. T.
Prabhakaran, D.
Goddard, P. A.
contents Rare-earth pyrochlore iridates host two interlocking magnetic sublattices of corner-sharing tetrahedra and can harbour a unique combination of frustrated moments, exotic excitations and highly correlated electrons. They are also the first systems predicted to display both topological Weyl semimetal and axion insulator phases. We have measured the transport and magnetotransport properties of single-crystal Sm$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ up to and beyond the pressure-induced quantum critical point for all-in-all-out (AIAO) Ir order at $p_{\rm c}$ = 63 kbar previously identified by resonant X-ray scattering and close to which Weyl semimetallic behavior has been previously predicted. Our findings overturn the accepted expectation that the suppression of AIAO order should lead to metallic conduction persisting down to zero temperature. Instead, the resistivity-minimum temperature, which tracks the decrease in the AIAO ordering temperature for pressures up to 30~kbar, begins to increase under further application of pressure, pointing to the presence of a second as-yet unidentified mechanism leading to non-metallic behavior. The magnetotransport does track the suppression of Ir magnetism, however, with a strong hysteresis observed only within the AIAO phase boundary, similar to that found for Ho$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ and attributed to plastic deformation of Ir domains. Around $p_{\rm c}$ we find the emergence of a new type of electronic phase, characterized by a negative magnetoresistance with small hysteresis at the lowest temperatures, and hysteresis-free positive magnetoresistance above approximately 5 K. The temperature dependence of our low-temperature transport data are found to be best described by a model consistent with a Weyl semimetal across the entire pressure range.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2210_05641
institution arXiv
publishDate 2022
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Magnetotransport of single crystal Sm$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ across the pressure-induced quantum-critical phase boundary
Coak, M. J.
Götze, K.
De La Fuente, T. Northam
Castelnovo, C.
Tidey, J. P.
Singleton, J.
Boothroyd, A. T.
Prabhakaran, D.
Goddard, P. A.
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Rare-earth pyrochlore iridates host two interlocking magnetic sublattices of corner-sharing tetrahedra and can harbour a unique combination of frustrated moments, exotic excitations and highly correlated electrons. They are also the first systems predicted to display both topological Weyl semimetal and axion insulator phases. We have measured the transport and magnetotransport properties of single-crystal Sm$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ up to and beyond the pressure-induced quantum critical point for all-in-all-out (AIAO) Ir order at $p_{\rm c}$ = 63 kbar previously identified by resonant X-ray scattering and close to which Weyl semimetallic behavior has been previously predicted. Our findings overturn the accepted expectation that the suppression of AIAO order should lead to metallic conduction persisting down to zero temperature. Instead, the resistivity-minimum temperature, which tracks the decrease in the AIAO ordering temperature for pressures up to 30~kbar, begins to increase under further application of pressure, pointing to the presence of a second as-yet unidentified mechanism leading to non-metallic behavior. The magnetotransport does track the suppression of Ir magnetism, however, with a strong hysteresis observed only within the AIAO phase boundary, similar to that found for Ho$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ and attributed to plastic deformation of Ir domains. Around $p_{\rm c}$ we find the emergence of a new type of electronic phase, characterized by a negative magnetoresistance with small hysteresis at the lowest temperatures, and hysteresis-free positive magnetoresistance above approximately 5 K. The temperature dependence of our low-temperature transport data are found to be best described by a model consistent with a Weyl semimetal across the entire pressure range.
title Magnetotransport of single crystal Sm$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ across the pressure-induced quantum-critical phase boundary
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.05641