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Evidence of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless phase in a frustrated magnet
- Source :
- Nature Communications, Nature Communications, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-6 (2020)
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Nature Publishing Group UK, 2020.
-
Abstract
- The Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) mechanism, building upon proliferation of topological defects in 2D systems, is the first example of phase transition beyond the Landau-Ginzburg paradigm of symmetry breaking. Such a topological phase transition has long been sought yet undiscovered directly in magnetic materials. Here, we pin down two transitions that bound a BKT phase in an ideal 2D frustrated magnet TmMgGaO$_4$, via nuclear magnetic resonance under in-plane magnetic fields, which do not disturb the low-energy electronic states and allow BKT fluctuations to be detected sensitively. Moreover, by applying out-of-plane fields, we find a critical scaling behaviour of the magnetic susceptibility expected for the BKT transition. The experimental findings can be explained by quantum Monte Carlo simulations applied on an accurate triangular-lattice Ising model of the compound which hosts a BKT phase. These results provide a concrete example for the BKT phase and offer an ideal platform for future investigations on the BKT physics in magnetic materials.<br />Comment: Version as accepted by Nature Communications, main text: 7 pages, 3 figures; supplementary information: 5 pages, 7 figures
- Subjects :
- Phase transition
Science
Quantum Monte Carlo
General Physics and Astronomy
FOS: Physical sciences
02 engineering and technology
01 natural sciences
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Article
Topological defect
Condensed Matter - Strongly Correlated Electrons
Magnetic properties and materials
Condensed Matter::Superconductivity
0103 physical sciences
Topological order
Topological insulators
Symmetry breaking
010306 general physics
lcsh:Science
Condensed Matter - Statistical Mechanics
Physics
Condensed Matter::Quantum Gases
Quantum Physics
Multidisciplinary
Condensed matter physics
Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
General Chemistry
021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology
Magnetic susceptibility
Phase transitions and critical phenomena
Topological insulator
Ising model
lcsh:Q
0210 nano-technology
Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20411723
- Volume :
- 11
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Nature Communications
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....89550579ec1b9f4ee81af62cd44f49c8