Narrowly avoided spin-nematic phase in BaCdVO(PO$_4$)$_2$: NMR evidence

K. M. Ranjith; K. Yu. Povarov; Z. Yan; A. Zheludev; M. Horvatić

doi:10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.023043

paper

Narrowly avoided spin-nematic phase in BaCdVO(PO $_{4}$ ) $_{2}$ : NMR evidence

arXiv:2401.05269 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.023043

Abstract

We present a $^{31}$ P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) investigation of BaCdVO(PO $_{4}$ ) $_{2}$ focusing on the nearly saturated regime between $μ_{0} H_{c 1}$ = 4.05 T and $μ_{0} H_{c 2}$ = 6.5 T, which used to be considered a promising candidate for a spin-nematic phase. NMR spectra establish the absence of any dipolar order there, whereas the weak field dependence of the magnetization above $H_{c 1}$ is accounted for by Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction terms. The low-energy spin dynamics (fluctuations), measured by the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate $T_{1}^{- 1}$ , confirms the continuity of this phase and the absence of any low-temperature phase transition. Unexpectedly, the spin dynamics above $H_{c 1}$ is largely dominated by two-magnon processes, which is expected above the saturation field of a spin-nematic phase, but not inside. This shows that BaCdVO(PO $_{4}$ ) $_{2}$ is indeed close to a spin-nematic instability; however, this phase is not stabilized. We thus confirm recent theoretical predictions that the spin-nematic phase can be stabilized, at most, in an extremely narrow field range close to saturation or is rather narrowly avoided [Jiang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 116701 (2023)].

arXiv comment9 pages, 6 figures

Narrowly avoided spin-nematic phase in BaCdVO(PO4​)2​: NMR evidence

Abstract

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Narrowly avoided spin-nematic phase in BaCdVO(PO $_{4}$ ) $_{2}$ : NMR evidence