4.8 Article

Strain-Induced Spin-Nematic State and Nematic Susceptibility Arising from 2 x 2 Fe Clusters in KFe0.8Ag1.2Te2

Journal

PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
Volume 123, Issue 24, Pages -

Publisher

AMER PHYSICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.247205

Keywords

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Funding

  1. Office of Science, Office of BES, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division, of the U.S. DOE [DE-AC02-05-CH11231, KC2202]
  2. National Natural Science Foundation of China [11734002]

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Spin nematics break spin-rotational symmetry while maintaining time-reversal symmetry, analogous to liquid crystal nematics that break spatial rotational symmetry while maintaining translational symmetry. Although several candidate spin nematics have been proposed, the identification and characterization of such a state remain challenging because the spin-nematic order parameter does not couple directly to experimental probes. KFe0.8Ag1.2Te2 (K5Fe4Ag6Te10, KFAT) is a local-moment magnet consisting of well-separated 2 x 2 Fe clusters, and in its ground state the clusters order magnetically, breaking both spin-rotational and time-reversal symmetries. Using uniform magnetic susceptibility and neutron scattering measurements, we find a small strain induces sizable spin anisotropy in the paramagnetic state of KFAT, manifestly breaking spin-rotational symmetry while retaining time-reversal symmetry, resulting in a strain-induced spin-nematic state in which the 2 x 2 clusters act as the spin analog of molecules in a liquid crystal nematic. The strain-induced spin anisotropy in KFAT allows us to probe its nematic susceptibility, revealing a divergentlike increase upon cooling, indicating the ordered ground state is driven by a spin-orbital entangled nematic order parameter.

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