Uniaxial and hydrostatic pressure effects in alpha-RuCl3 single crystals via thermal-expansion measurements

Abstract

We present high-resolution thermal-expansion and specific-heat measurements of single crystalline alpha-RuCl3. An extremely hysteretic structural transition expanding over 100 K is observed by thermal- expansion along both crystallographic axes, which we attribute to a change of stacking sequence of the RuCl3 layers. Three magnetic transitions are observed, which we link to the different stacking sequences. Using our data and thermodynamic relations, we derive the uniaxial and hydrostatic pressure derivatives of all three magnetic transitions. Our results demonstrate that magnetic order should be totally suppressed by very moderate pressures of 0.3 GPa to 0.9 GPa. Finally, we discuss why our results differ from recent hydrostatic pressure measurements and suggest a possible route to reaching the spin-liquid state in alpha-RuCl3.

6 pages, 3 figures

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• Raman spectroscopic signature of fractionalized excitations in the harmonic-honeycomb iridates $\beta$- and $\gamma$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Pressure-induced dimerization and valence bond crystal formation in the Kitaev-Heisenberg magnet alpha-RuCl3
• Pressure-induced melting of magnetic order and emergence of new quantum state in alpha-RuCl3
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• Stacking faults in $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$ revealed by local electric polarization
• Strong effects of uniaxial pressure and short-range correlations in Cr2Ge2Te6
• Uniaxial pressure effects in the two-dimensional van-der-Waals ferromagnet CrI${}_3$
• Detuning the Honeycomb of the α-RuCl3 Kitaev lattice: A case of Cr3+ dopant
• Acoustic phonon dispersion of $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Two-step growth of high-quality single crystals of the Kitaev magnet $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
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• Electronic Phase Propagation Speed in BaFe${}_2$As${}_2$ Revealed by Dilatometry
• Competing Interactions and the Effects of Uniaxial Out-of-plane Perturbations in the Honeycomb Antiferromagnet Na${}_2$Co${}_2$TeO${}_6$
• Critical behavior and evidence of dimensional crossover in quasi-two-dimensional Li${}_2$FeSiO${}_4$
• Nesting instability of gapless U(1) spin liquids with spinon Fermi pockets in two dimensions