Nature of quantum criticality in the Ising ferromagnet <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>TbV</mml:mi> <mml:mn>6</mml:mn> </mml:msub> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>Sn</mml:mi> <mml:mn>6</mml:mn> </mml:msub> <
<a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <a:mrow> <a:msub> <a:mi>TbV</a:mi> <a:mn>6</a:mn> </a:msub> <a:msub> <a:mi>Sn</a:mi> <a:mn>6</a:mn> </a:msub> </a:mrow> </a:math> is a topological metal where ferromagnetic Tb ions with strong uniaxial magnetic anisotropy interact with V kagome layers. Inelastic neutron scattering (INS) measurements show that the Tb ions adopt an Ising doublet ground state. Here, we consider whether a transverse magnetic field can drive <b:math xmlns:b="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <b:mrow> <b:msub> <b:mi>TbV</b:mi> <b:mn>6</b:mn> </b:msub> <b:msub> <b:mi>Sn</b:mi> <b:mn>6</b:mn> </b:msub> </b:mrow> </b:math> toward a quantum critical point, providing a rare example of transverse-field Ising criticality in a metallic compound. High-field magnetization measurements reveal a first-order-like spin-reorientation transition at 25.6 T. Our INS-based magnetic model finds that this is caused by an avoided crossing of an excited-state singlet with the ground-state doublet. Surprisingly, our model predicts that quantum critical and tricritical points are accessible within the range of experimentally determined model parameters and may be reached by varying the direction of an applied magnetic field.
Authors
- John Singleton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6109-6905)
- Daniel M. Pajerowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3890-2379)
- Joanna Bławat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7758-0272)
- R. McDonald (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5819-4739)
- P. C. Canfield (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7715-0643)
- Y. Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4983-3287)
- Liqin Ke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5130-9006)
- Rebecca Flint (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0193-5962)
- Tianxiong Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1418-5881)
- R. J. McQueeney (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0718-5602)
- R. D. McKenzie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5265-7635)
- Tyler J. Slade (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6751-4303)
- Bing Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3063-5344)
Institutions
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (US)
- Iowa State University (US)
- Ames National Laboratory (US)
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (US)
- University of Virginia (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Research
- Published
- 2025-10-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/jlnl-y35t
- Primary Topic
- Topological Materials and Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00