High-pressure magnetization and NMR studies on $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$

Abstract

We report high-pressure magnetization and ${}^{35}$Cl NMR studies on $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$ with pressure up to 1.5~GPa. At low pressures, the magnetic ordering is identified by both the magnetization data and the NMR data, where the $T_N$ shows a concave shape dependence with pressure. These data suggest stacking rearrangement along the $c$-axis. With increasing pressure, phase separation appears prominently at $P\ge$~0.45~GPa, and the magnetic volume fraction is completely suppressed at $P\ge$~1.05~GPa. Meanwhile, a phase-transition-like behavior emerges at high pressures in the remaining volume by a sharp drop of magnetization $M(T)$ upon cooling, with the transition temperature $T_x$ increased to ~250~K at 1~GPa. The $1{/}^{35}{T}_1$ is reduced by over three orders of magnitude when cooled below 100~K. This characterizes a high-pressure, low-temperature phase with nearly absent static susceptibility and low-energy spin fluctuations. The nature of the high-pressure ground state is discussed, where a magnetically disordered state is proposed as a candidate state.

8 pages, 12 figures, to appear in Physical Review B

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Cited by in corpus (7)

• Experimental identification of quantum spin liquids
• Revisiting the Kitaev material candidacy of Ir4+ double perovskite iridates
• Spin-glass state and reversed magnetic anisotropy induced by Cr doping in the Kitaev magnet $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Evidence for magnetic fractional excitations in a Kitaev quantum-spin-liquid candidate $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Interplay of magnetism and dimerization in pressurized Kitaev material $\beta$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Anomalous and Anisotropic Nonlinear Susceptibility in the Proximate Kitaev Magnet $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Nesting instability of gapless U(1) spin liquids with spinon Fermi pockets in two dimensions