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arXiv:1901.08182 · Physical review. B./Physical review. B

Robustness of entropy plateaus: A case study of triangular Ising antiferromagnets

Owen Bradley, Chunhan Feng, Richard T. Scalettar, Rajiv R. P. Singh

Published Aug 20, 2019• 7 citations
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Abstract

Residual entropy is a key feature associated with emergence in many-body systems. From a variety of frustrated magnets to the onset of spin-charge separation in Hubbard models and fermion-${Z}_{2}$-flux variables in Kitaev models, the freezing of one set of degrees of freedom and the establishment of local constraints are marked by a plateau in entropy as a function of temperature. Yet, with the exception of the rare-earth pyrochlore family of spin-ice materials, evidence for such plateaus is rarely seen in real materials, raising questions about their robustness. Following recent experimental findings of the absence of such plateaus in the triangular-lattice Ising antiferromagnet (TIAF) ${\mathrm{TmMgGaO}}_{4}$ by Li et al., we explore in detail the existence and rounding of entropy plateaus in TIAF. We use a transfer-matrix method to numerically calculate the properties of the system at different temperatures and magnetic fields, with further neighbor interactions and disorder. We find that temperature windows of entropy plateaus exist only when second-neighbor interactions are no more than a couple of percent of the nearest-neighbor ones, and they are also easily destroyed by disorder in the nearest-neighbor exchange variable, thereby explaining the challenge in observing such effects.

DOI
10.1103/physrevb.100.064414

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Residual entropy is a key feature associated with emergence in many-body systems. From a variety of frustrated magnets to the onset of spin-charge separation in Hubbard models and fermion-Z2{Z}_{2}Z2​-flux variables in Kitaev models, the freezing of one set of degrees of freedom and the establishment of local constraints are marked by a plateau in entropy as a function of temperature. Yet, with the exception of the rare-earth pyrochlore family of spin-ice materials, evidence for such plateaus is rarely seen in real materials, raising questions about their robustness. Following recent experimental findings of the absence of such plateaus in the triangular-lattice Ising antiferromagnet (TIAF) TmMgGaO4{\mathrm{TmMgGaO}}_{4}TmMgGaO4​ by Li et al., we explore in detail the existence and rounding of entropy plateaus in TIAF. We use a transfer-matrix method to numerically calculate the properties of the system at different temperatures and magnetic fields, with further neighbor interactions and disorder. We find that temperature windows of entropy plateaus exist only when second-neighbor interactions are no more than a couple of percent of the nearest-neighbor ones, and they are also easily destroyed by disorder in the nearest-neighbor exchange variable, thereby explaining the challenge in observing such effects.
Residual entropy is a key feature associated with emergence in many-body systems. From a variety of frustrated magnets to the onset of spin-charge separation in Hubbard models and fermion-Z2Z_2Z2​-flux variables in Kitaev models, the freezing of one set of degrees of freedom and establishment of local constraints is marked by a plateau in entropy as a function of temperature. Yet, with the exception of rare-earth pyrochlore family of spin-ice materials, evidence for such plateaus is rarely seen in real materials, raising questions about their robustness. Following recent experimental findings of the absence of such plateaus in triangular-lattice Ising antiferromagnet (TIAF) TmMgGaO4_44​ by Li et al, we explore in detail the existence and rounding of entropy plateaus in TIAF. We use a transfer matrix method to numerically calculate the properties of the system at different temperatures and magnetic fields, with further neighbor interactions and disorder. We find that temperature windows of entropy plateaus exist only when second neighbor interactions are no more than a couple of percent of the nearest-neighbor ones, and are also easily destroyed by disorder in the nearest-neighbor exchange variable, thereby explaining the challenge in observing such effects.
We study an Ising model with nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic interactions. It is placed on a triangular lattice, where each site is occupied by a spin with xxx probability. There is no applied magnetic field. Randomness and frustration, two essential ingredients of spin-glasses, are present in this model. We study its critical properties here. The entropy is obtained by a transfer-matrix calculation as a function of xxx at low temperature (T=0.3JkBT=\frac{0.3J}{{k}_{B}}T=kB​0.3J​) for systems on a lattice of 10 \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} 20 sites. A fairly shallow minimum appears near $x\ensuremath{\simeq}0.9$, which suggests that this case is the one most likely to show a transition into an ordered state at low temperature. We study the cases x=1,0.9,and0.74x=1, 0.9, \mathrm{and} 0.74x=1,0.9,and0.74, which is about half-way to the critical percolation. We simulate systems on lattices of 50 \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} 50 sites and 30 \ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{} 30 sites by the Monte Carlo method. The specific heat has a broad maximum at $T\ensuremath{\simeq}0.9$ for x=0.74and0.9x=0.74 \mathrm{and} 0.9x=0.74and0.9. ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{\mathrm{SG}}$, defined by ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{\mathrm{SG}}={N}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\ensuremath{\Sigma}{i,j}^{}{〈{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{i}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{j}〉}^{2}$, and the relaxation time ($\ensuremath{\tau}$) are obtained for $T\ensuremath{\ge}\frac{0.6J}{{k}_{B}}$. Both quantities, $\ensuremath{\tau}$ and ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{\mathrm{SG}}$, turn out to be proportional to $\mathrm{exp}[\frac{A}{{(T\ensuremath{-}{T}_{0})}^{c}}]$ and $0\ensuremath{\le}{T}_{0}\ensuremath{\lesssim}0.4$; a fit with T0=0{T}_{0}=0T0​=0 yields $c\ensuremath{\approx}1$ for x=1x=1x=1 but $c\ensuremath{\approx}2$ for x=0.74and0.9x=0.74 \mathrm{and} 0.9x=0.74and0.9.
An antiferromagnetic Ising system on a triangular lattice is studied by means of a transfer matrix and the phenomenological scaling method. System consists of a semi-infinite strip and helical boundary conditions are imposed at the end of each row. At external magnetic fields h =0 and 6 J , where J is a nearest neighbor coupling constant, a unite residual entropy is obtained at the zero temperature. With a small field, specific heat is found to have two peaks; a high-temperature peak corresponding to the enhanced short-range order, and a low-temperature peak to the appearance of a long-range order. A phase diagram in h - T space is obtained by means of the phenomenological scaling, and agrees fairly well with the one obtained by Monte Carlo simulation. The main deficiency is the finite transition temperature at h =0, which may be due to a crossover to the XY-like phase transition.
We study the critical properties of an Ising model with nearest neighbor antiferromagnetic interactions, placed on a triangular lattice, where each site is occupied by a spin, only with x probability. Randomness and frustration, two essential ingredients of spin-glasses, are present in this model. The entropy is obtained, by a transfer matrix calculation, as a function of x at low temperature (T=0.3 J/kB), for systems on a lattice of 10×19 sites. A fairly shallow minimum in the entropy appears near x=0.9, which suggests that this case is the most likely to show a transition into an ordered state at low temperature. We therefore simulate systems on lattices of 50×50 sites for x=0.9 and x=1 by the Monte Carlo method. The specific heat has a broad maximum at T=0.9 J/kB (1.2) for x=0.9 (1). The relaxation time (τ) obtained for T≥0.6 J/kB, turns out to be proportional to exp[A/(T−T0)c], and 0<T0≲0.4 J/kB; a fit with T0=0 yields c≂1 for x=1 but c≂2 for x=0.9.
Disorder significantly impacts the electronic properties of conducting quantum materials by inducing electron localization and thus altering the local density of states and electric transport. In insulating quantum magnetic materials, the effects of disorder are less understood and can drastically impact fluctuating spin states like quantum spin liquids. In the absence of transport tools, disorder is typically characterized using chemical methods or by semi-classical modeling of spin dynamics. This requires high magnetic fields that may not always be accessible. Here, we show that magnetization plateaus—incompressible states found in many quantum magnets—provide an exquisite platform to uncover small amounts of disorder, regardless of the origin of the plateau. Using optical magneto-spectroscopy on the Ising-Heisenberg triangular-lattice antiferromagnet K2Co(SeO3)2{{{{\rm{K}}}}}_{2}{{{\rm{Co}}}}{({{{{\rm{SeO}}}}}_{3})}_{2}K2​Co(SeO3​)2​ exhibiting a 1/3 magnetization plateau, we identify sharp spectroscopic lines, the fine structure of which serves as a hallmark signature of disorder. Through analytical and numerical modeling, we show that these fingerprints not only enable us to quantify minute amounts of disorder but also reveal its nature—as dilute vacancies. Remarkably, this model explains all details of the thermomagnetic response of our system, including the existence of multiple plateaus. Our findings provide a new approach to identifying disorder in quantum magnets. Disorder in quantum magnetic materials can mimic the behaviour of quantum spin liquids, however, quantifying disorder is challenging, often requiring magnetic fields large enough to fully polarize the system. Here, Kim, Rathi and coauthors show how the fine spectroscopic structure of magnetization plateaus can be used to quantify disorder in magnetic insulators.
We have studied the presence of plateaus on the low-temperature magnetization of an antiferromagnetic spin-1 chain, as an external uniform magnetic field is varied. A crystal-field interaction is present in the model and the exchange constants follow a random quenched (Bernoulli or Gaussian) distribution. Using a transfer-matrix technique we calculate the largest Lyapunov exponent and, from it, the magnetization at low temperatures as a function of the magnetic field, for different values of the crystal field and the width of the distributions. For the Bernoulli distribution, the number of plateaus increases, with respect to the uniform case [Litaiff et al., Solid State Commun. 147, 494 (2008)] and their presence can be linked to different ground states, when the magnetic field is varied. For the Gaussian distributions, the uniform scenario is maintained, for small widths, but the plateaus structure disappears as the width increases.