Hidden spin liquid in an antiferromagnet: Applications to FeCrAs

Article

关键词: HEISENBERG KAGOME ANTIFERROMAGNET;    QUANTUM PHASE-TRANSITIONS;    ORDER;    PHOSPHIDES;    ARSENIDES;    DISORDER;    BEHAVIOR;    LATTICE;    METALS;   

DOI  :  10.1103/PhysRevB.84.104448

来源: SCIE

【 摘 要 】

The recently studied material FeCrAs exhibits a surprising combination of experimental signatures, with metallic, Fermi-liquid-like specific heat but resistivity showing strong nonmetallic character. The Cr sublattice posseses local magnetic moments, in the form of stacked (distorted) kagome lattices. Despite the high degree of magnetic frustration, antiferromagnetic order develops below T-N similar to 125 K suggesting the nonmagnetic Fe sublattice may play a role in stabilizing the ordering. From the material properties we propose a microscopic Hamiltonian for the low-energy degrees of freedom, including the nonmagnetic Fe sublattice, and study its properties using slave-rotor mean-field theory. Using this approach we find a spin-liquid phase on the Fe sublattice, which survives even in the presence of the magnetic Cr sublattice. Finally, we suggest that the features of FeCrAs can be qualitatively explained by critical fluctuations in the nonmagnetic Fe sublattice due to proximity to a metal-insulator transition.

【 授权许可】

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