Field-tuned ferroquadrupolar quantum phase transition in the insulator TmVO${}_4$

Abstract

We report results of low-temperature heat capacity, magnetocaloric effect and neutron diffraction measurements of TmVO${}_4$, an insulator that undergoes a continuous ferroquadrupolar phase transition associated with local partially-filled $4f$ orbitals of the thulium (Tm${}^{3+}$) ions. The ferroquadrupolar transition, a realization of Ising nematicity, can be tuned to a quantum critical point using a magnetic field oriented along the $c$-axis of the tetragonal crystal lattice, which acts as an effective transverse field for the Ising-nematic order. In small magnetic fields, the thermal phase transition can be well-described using a semi-classical mean field treatment of the transverse field Ising model. However, in higher magnetic fields, closer to the field-tuned quantum phase transition, subtle deviations from this semi-classical behavior are observed due to quantum fluctuations. Although the phase transition is driven by the local $4f$ degrees of freedom, the crystal lattice still plays a crucial role, both in terms of mediating the interactions between the local quadrupoles, and in determining the critical scaling exponents, even though the phase transition itself can be described via mean field. In particular, bilinear coupling of the nematic order parameter to acoustic phonons changes the spatial and temporal fluctuations of the former in a fundamental way, resulting in different critical behavior of the nematic transverse-field Ising model as compared to the usual case of the magnetic transverse-field Ising model. Our results establish TmVO${}_4$ as a model material, and electronic nematicity as a paradigmatic example, for quantum criticality in insulators.

9 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (5)

• Fermi-liquid instabilities at magnetic quantum phase transitions
• Enhancement of superconductivity near a nematic quantum critical point
• Are non-Fermi-liquids stable to Cooper pairing?
• Field-tuned ferroquadrupolar quantum phase transition in the insulator TmVO${}_4$
• Anisotropic nematic fluctuations above the ferroquadrupolar transition in TmVO${}_4$

Cited by in corpus (15)

• Hilbert space shattering and dynamical freezing in the quantum Ising model
• Field-tuned ferroquadrupolar quantum phase transition in the insulator TmVO${}_4$
• Second order Zeeman interaction and ferroquadrupolar order in TmVO${}_4$
• Possible realization of three-dimensional quantum spin liquid behavior in HoVO4
• Classification of electronic nematicity in three-dimensional crystals and quasicrystals
• Strain-tuned quantum criticality in electronic Potts-nematic systems
• Role of magnetic ions in the thermal Hall effect of the paramagnetic insulator TmVO${}_4$
• Spin-echo and quantum versus classical critical fluctuations in TmVO${}_4$
• Giant elastocaloric effect at low temperatures in TmVO${}_4$ and implications for cryogenic cooling
• Realization of giant elastocaloric cooling at cryogenic temperatures in TmVO${}_4$ via a strain load/unload technique
• Microscopic origin of the nemato-elastic coupling and dynamics of hybridized collective nematic-phonon excitations
• Spin-liquid-like spin dynamics in the frustrated antiferromagnet TbBO3
• Compatible Instability: Gauge Constraints of Elasticity Inherited by Electronic Nematic Criticality
• Quantum Criticality in the infinite-range Transverse Field Ising Model
• Nuclear magnetic resonance studies in a model transverse field Ising system