Geometrical frustration describes situations where interactions are incompatible with the lattice geometry and stabilizes exotic phases such as spin liquids. Whether geometrical frustration of magnetic interactions in metals can induce unconventional quantum critical points is an active area of research. We focus on the hexagonal heavy fermion metal CeRhSn, where the Kondo ions are located on distorted kagome planes stacked along the c axis. Low-temperature specific heat, thermal expansion, and magnetic Gruneisen parameter measurements prove a zero-field quantum critical point. The linear thermal expansion, which measures the initial uniaxial pressure derivative of the entropy, displays a striking anisotropy. Critical and noncritical behaviors along and perpendicular to the kagome planes, respectively, prove that quantum criticality is driven be geometrical frustration. We also discovered a spin flop–type metamagnetic crossover. This excludes an itinerant scenario and suggests that quantum criticality is related to local moments in a spin liquid–like state.

https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/advances/1/3/e1500001.full.pdf

Characteristic signatures of quantum criticality driven by geometrical frustration.

Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) relies on careful management of heat flow at the nanoscale. This article describes the heat-transfer aspects of such a system that must be considered above and beyond standard Fourier’s Law-based heat conduction. A background on nanoscale heat transport is provided that discusses energy carriers and the role of interfaces and microstructure in nanoscale conduction. These heat-transport concepts are applied to the key components of the HAMR system—the head (principally, the near-field transducer [NFT]) and the magnetic medium. This analysis frames the central challenge of thermal engineering for a HAMR system—getting the medium hot enough while maintaining a NFT that it is cool enough to avoid degradation over time. Of particular note are discussions on the role of the interface thermal conductance in the NFT and the importance of thermal anisotropy in the medium due to its granular microstructure.

Nanoscale thermal transport aspects of heat-assisted magnetic recording devices and materials

Strongly correlated electronic systems can harbor a rich variety of quantum spin states. Understanding and controlling such spin states in quantum materials is of great current interest. Focusing on the simple binary system UPt3 with ultrasound (US) as a probe we identify clear signatures in field sweeps demarkating new high field spin phases. Magnetostriction (MS) measurements performed up to 65 T also show signatures at the same fields confirming these phase transitions. At the very lowest temperatures (<200 mK) we also observe magneto-acoustic quantum oscillations which for θ = 90° (B||c-axis) and vicinity abruptly become very strong in the 24.8–30 T range. High resolution magnetization measurements for this same angle reveal a continuous variation of the magnetization implying the subtle nature of the implied transitions. With B rotated away from the c-axis, the US signatures occur at nearly the same field. These transitions merge with the separate sequence of the well known metamagnetic transition which commences at 20 T for θ = 0° but moves to higher fields as 1/cosθ. This merge, suggesting a tricritical behavior, occurs at θ ≈ 51° from the ab-plane. This is an unique off-symmetry angle where the length change along the c-axis is precisely zero due to the anisotropic nature of MS in UPt3 for all magnetic field values.

/pdf/field-angle-tuned-metamagnetism-and-lifschitz-transitions-in-zfg46l7fdi.pdf

Field Angle Tuned Metamagnetism and Lifschitz Transitions in UPt 3

The velocity and attenuation of longitudinal ultrasound were measured on two single crystals of UPt3 in magnetic fields up to 33 T and temperatures down to 40 mK. For fields applied in the basal plane, a strong dip in the velocity is seen at a field of 20 T in both samples and is accompanied by a simultaneous increase in the dc magnetization. At lower temperatures the dip gets more pronounced and sharper. At a temperature around 0.6 K the velocity dip develops a second feature at a slightly higher field of ~21.6 T.

ULTRASONIC AND MAGNETIZATION STUDIES AT THE METAMAGNETIC TRANSITION IN UPt3

We describe instrumentation and measurement procedures for performing microwave measurements on small metallic samples at dilution refrigerator temperatures using the microwave cavity perturbation technique. The quality factor Q of the lead-plated cavity was of order of 105 at temperatures below the superconducting transition temperature of lead. Microwaves were coupled into and out of the resonator through two room-temperature positionable semirigid coaxial lines, each terminated in a small-loop antenna. We describe in detail the arrangement of the apparatus used to tune to, and lock onto, a cavity resonance and the strategy used to categorize various resonance modes. One of the main features of this microwave spectrometer is the application of the FM detection method to measure changes in both the frequency and the quality factor of the sample-loaded cavity. The procedures for converting these quantities to the real and imaginary components of the surface impedance are described. As an application of th...

Instrumentation for cryogenic microwave cavity resonance measurements

Ultrasonic velocity measurements were performed on a single crystal of URu2Si2 at various temperatures in the 20 ms 50T pulsed magnets at the NHMFL, Los Alamos, NM. At 4 K a three-fold splitting of the metamagnetic transition is seen; corresponding features were observed earlier in magnetization studies. As the temperature is raised, the three-fold splitting evolves first into two features, then into a single broad dip, after which it disappears entirely.

Ultrasonic measurements at the metamagnetic transition in URu2Si2

The longitudinal ultrasonic attenuation and velocity were measured on a single crystal of UPt 3 in magnetic fields up to 27 T. Earlier measurements had reported metamagnetic behavior in the vicinity of 20 T, where a pronounced velocity dip (softening of the lattice) is seen. Simultaneous measurements at three frequencies during the same run were possible. A small dispersion in the velocity is seen at the metamagnetic transition.

Velocity dispersion at the metamagnetic transition in UPt3

Three ultrasonic spectrometers have been constructed for use with the continuous and pulsed magnetic field facilities of the NHMFL at the Tallahassee and Los Alamos sites. The first of these, designed for use with the dc magnets, is a heterodyne spectrometer with the capabilities of high velocity resolution and near-simultaneous measurements at several frequencies (typically near transducer harmonics). The other two spectrometers are designed for the short-pulsed magnets, with the capability of fast data acquisition. These spectrometers have been used in the study of metamagnetism in the heavy fermion materials.

J. R. Feller

Papers

ULTRASONIC AND MAGNETIZATION STUDIES AT THE METAMAGNETIC TRANSITION IN UPt3

Instrumentation for cryogenic microwave cavity resonance measurements

Ultrasonic measurements at the metamagnetic transition in URu2Si2

Velocity dispersion at the metamagnetic transition in UPt3

Ultrasonic spectrometers for condensed matter studies at very high magnetic field