We present magnetic torque measurements on the Shastry-Sutherland quantum spin system SrCu 2 (BO 3 ) 2 in fields up to 31 T and temperatures down to 50 mK. A new quantum phase is observed in a 1 T field range above the 1/8 plateau, in agreement with recent NMR results. Since the presence of the DM coupling precludes the existence of a true Bose-Einstein condensation and the formation of a supersolid phase in SrCu 2 (BO 3 ) 2 , the exact nature of the new phase in the vicinity of the plateau remains to be explained. Comparison between magnetization and torque data reveals a huge contribution of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction to the torque response. Finally, our measurements demonstrate the existence of a supercooling due to adiabatic magnetocaloric effects in pulsed field experiments.
We present magnetic torque measurements on the Shastry-Sutherland quantum spin system SrCu 2 (BO 3 ) 2 in fields up to 31 T and temperatures down to 50 mK. A new quantum phase is observed in a 1 T field range above the 1/8 plateau, in agreement with recent NMR results. Since the presence of the DM coupling precludes the existence of a true Bose-Einstein condensation and the formation of a supersolid phase in SrCu 2 (BO 3 ) 2 , the exact nature of the new phase in the vicinity of the plateau remains to be explained. Comparison between magnetization and torque data reveals a huge contribution of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction to the torque response. Finally, our measurements demonstrate the existence of a supercooling due to adiabatic magnetocaloric effects in pulsed field experiments.
Abstract Under magnetic fields, quantum magnets often undergo exotic phase transitions with various kinds of order. The discovery of a sequence of fractional magnetization plateaus in the Shastry-Sutherland compound SrCu 2 (BO 3 ) 2 has played a central role in the high-field research on quantum materials, but so far this system could only be probed up to half the saturation value of the magnetization. Here, we report the first experimental and theoretical investigation of this compound up to the saturation magnetic field of 140 T and beyond. Using ultrasound and magnetostriction techniques combined with extensive tensor-network calculations (iPEPS), several spin-supersolid phases are revealed between the 1/2 plateau and saturation (1/1 plateau). Quite remarkably, the sound velocity of the 1/2 plateau exhibits a drastic decrease of -50%, related to the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic instability of the checkerboard-type magnon crystal. The unveiled nature of this paradigmatic quantum system is a new milestone for exploring exotic quantum states of matter emerging in extreme conditions.
We investigate the effect of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interactions on torque measurements of quantum magnets with magnetization plateaux in the context of a frustrated spin-1/2 ladder. Using extensive DMRG simulations, we show that the DM contribution to the torque is peaked at the critical fields, and that the total torque is non-monotonous if the DM interaction is large enough compared to the g -tensor anisotropy. More remarkably, if the DM vectors point in a principal direction of the g -tensor, torque measurements close to this direction will show well-defined peaks even for small DM interaction, leading to a very sensitive way to detect the critical fields. We propose to test this effect in the two-dimensional plateau system SrCu 2 (BO 3 ) 2 .
Inspired by recent experimental measurements [Guo et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 206602 (2020PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.124.206602); Jiménez et al., Nature (London) 592, 370 (2021)NATUAS0028-083610.1038/s41586-021-03411-8] on frustrated quantum magnet SrCu_{2}(BO_{3})_{2} under combined pressure and magnetic fields, we study the related spin-1/2 Shastry-Sutherland model using state-of-the-art tensor network methods. By calculating thermodynamics, correlations, and susceptibilities, we find, in zero magnetic field, not only a line of first-order dimer-singlet to plaquette-singlet phase transition ending with a critical point, but also signatures of the ordered plaquette-singlet transition with its critical end point terminating on this first-order line. Moreover, we uncover prominent magnetic barocaloric responses, a novel type of quantum correlation induced cooling effect, in the strongly fluctuating supercritical regime. Under finite fields, we identify a quantum phase transition from the plaquette-singlet phase to the spin supersolid phase that breaks simultaneously lattice translational and spin rotational symmetries. The present findings on the Shastry-Sutherland model are accessible in current experiments and would shed new light on the critical and supercritical phenomena in the archetypal frustrated quantum magnet SrCu_{2}(BO_{3})_{2}.
The orthogonal dimer structure of the SrCu2(BO3)2 spin-1/2 magnet provides a realization of the Shastry--Sutherland model. Using a dimer-product variational wave function, we map out the phase diagram of the Shastry--Sutherland model including anisotropies. Based on the variational solution, we construct a bond-wave approach to obtain the excitation spectra as a function of the magnetic field. The characteristic features of the experimentally measured neutron and ESR spectra are reproduced, like the anisotropy-induced zero-field splittings and the persistent gap at higher fields.
We report heat capacity measurements of SrCu_{2}(BO_{3})_{2} under high pressure along with simulations of relevant quantum spin models and map out the (P,T) phase diagram of the material. We find a first-order quantum phase transition between the low-pressure quantum dimer paramagnet and a phase with signatures of a plaquette-singlet state below T=2 K. At higher pressures, we observe a transition into a previously unknown antiferromagnetic state below 4 K. Our findings can be explained within the two-dimensional Shastry-Sutherland quantum spin model supplemented by weak interlayer couplings. The possibility to tune SrCu_{2}(BO_{3})_{2} between the plaquette-singlet and antiferromagnetic states opens opportunities for experimental tests of quantum field theories and lattice models involving fractionalized excitations, emergent symmetries, and gauge fluctuations.
The magnetic properties of SrCu 2 (BO 3 ) 2 are reviewed from a theoretical point of view. SrCu 2 (BO 3 ) 2 is a new two-dimensional spin gap system and its magnetic properties are well described by a spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model of the orthogonal dimer lattice. The model has a dimer singlet ground state whose exactness was proven by Shastry and Sutherland for a topologically equivalent model more than 20 years ago. The exactness of the ground state is maintained even if interlayer couplings are introduced for SrCu 2 (BO 3 ) 2 . In the two-dimensional model, quantum phase transitions take place between different ground states for which three phases are expected: a gapped dimer singlet state, a plaquette resonating valence bond state and a gapless magnetic ordered state. Analysis of the experimental data shows that the dimer singlet ground state is realized in SrCu 2 (BO 3 ) 2 . The orthogonality of the dimer bonds, which is the underlying symmetry of the exactness of the ground state, also leads to an unusual property of elementary excitations, namely the almost localized nature of the triplet excitations. Application of an external magnetic field changes the density of the triplet excitations. In general, there is competition between kinetic energies and interaction energies between triplets. The almost localized nature of the triplets makes it easy to form regular lattices. In fact, at certain densities, where the commensurability energy is significant, the triplet excitations form superstructures and plateaux appear at 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 and 1/8 in the magnetization curve. In high-magnetic-field experiments, magnetic plateaux at magnetizations of 1/3, 1/4 and 1/8 have been observed. Translational symmetry of the lattice is spontaneously broken at the plateaux, except for the 1/2 plateau. The 1/3 and 1/4 plateaux are expected to have magnetic superstructures of stripe form while the 1/2 plateau has a square unit cell and the 1/8 plateau a rhomboid cell. Especially at the 1/8 plateau, nuclear magnetic resonance experiments indicate the presence of at least 11 distinct Cu sites with different spin polarizations, which is the first evidence of breaking of the translational symmetry at the plateau phase. The spin texture calculated on the basis of a Heisenberg model with adiabatic spin–phonon coupling is consistent with the experimental results.