Structural and magnetic properties of $β$-Li$_2$IrO$_3$ after grazing-angle focused ion beam thinning

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hua, Nelson, Breitner, Franziska, Jesche, Anton, Huang, Shih-Wen, Rüegg, Christian, Gegenwart, Philipp
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866910899270320128
author Hua, Nelson
Breitner, Franziska
Jesche, Anton
Huang, Shih-Wen
Rüegg, Christian
Gegenwart, Philipp
author_facet Hua, Nelson
Breitner, Franziska
Jesche, Anton
Huang, Shih-Wen
Rüegg, Christian
Gegenwart, Philipp
contents Manipulating the size and orientation of quantum materials is often used to tune emergent phenomena, but precise control of these parameters is also necessary from an experimental point of view. Various synthesis techniques already exist, such as epitaxial thin film growth and chemical etching, that are capable of producing specific sample dimensions with high precision. However, certain materials exist as single crystals that are often difficult to manipulate, thereby limiting their studies to a certain subset of experimental techniques. One particular class of these materials are the lithium and sodium iridates that are promising candidates for hosting a Kitaev quantum spin liquid state. Here we present a controlled method of using a focused ion beam at grazing incidence to reduce the size of a $β$-Li$_2$IrO$_3$ single crystal to a thickness of 1 $μm$. Subsequent x-ray diffraction measurements show the lattice remains intact, albeit with a larger mosaic spread. The integrity of the magnetic order is also preserved as the temperature dependent magnetic diffraction peak follows the same trend as its bulk counterpart with a transition temperature at TN = 37.5 K. Our study demonstrates a technique that opens up the possibility of nonequilibrium experiments where submicron thin samples are often essential.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_18644
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Structural and magnetic properties of $β$-Li$_2$IrO$_3$ after grazing-angle focused ion beam thinning
Hua, Nelson
Breitner, Franziska
Jesche, Anton
Huang, Shih-Wen
Rüegg, Christian
Gegenwart, Philipp
Materials Science
Manipulating the size and orientation of quantum materials is often used to tune emergent phenomena, but precise control of these parameters is also necessary from an experimental point of view. Various synthesis techniques already exist, such as epitaxial thin film growth and chemical etching, that are capable of producing specific sample dimensions with high precision. However, certain materials exist as single crystals that are often difficult to manipulate, thereby limiting their studies to a certain subset of experimental techniques. One particular class of these materials are the lithium and sodium iridates that are promising candidates for hosting a Kitaev quantum spin liquid state. Here we present a controlled method of using a focused ion beam at grazing incidence to reduce the size of a $β$-Li$_2$IrO$_3$ single crystal to a thickness of 1 $μm$. Subsequent x-ray diffraction measurements show the lattice remains intact, albeit with a larger mosaic spread. The integrity of the magnetic order is also preserved as the temperature dependent magnetic diffraction peak follows the same trend as its bulk counterpart with a transition temperature at TN = 37.5 K. Our study demonstrates a technique that opens up the possibility of nonequilibrium experiments where submicron thin samples are often essential.
title Structural and magnetic properties of $β$-Li$_2$IrO$_3$ after grazing-angle focused ion beam thinning
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.18644