Quest for Quantum States via Field-Altering Technology

We report quantum phenomena in spin-orbit-coupled single crystals that are synthesized using an innovative technology that “field-alters” crystal via application of magnetic field during crystal growth. This work addresses a major challenge facing the research community today: A great deal of theoretical work predicting exotic states for strongly spin-orbit-coupled, correlated materials has thus far met very limited experimental confirmation. These conspicuous discrepancies are due chiefly to the extreme sensitivity of these materials to inherently existent structural distortions. The results presented in this talk demonstrate that the “field-altered” materials not only are much less distorted but also exhibit phenomena absent in their “non-altered” counterparts. The field-altered materials include an array of 4d and 5d transition metal oxides, and three representative materials presented in this talk are Ba₄Ir₃O₁₀, Ca₂RuO₄, and Sr₂IrO₄. This study provides an entirely new paradigm for discovery of new quantum states and materials otherwise unavailable [1].

[1] Gang Cao et al, to appear in npj Quantum Materials (2020)