Field-induced Quantum Disorder in the Unconventional Diamond-lattice Magnet CaCo<sub>2</sub>TeO<sub>6</sub>

ORAL  · Invited

Abstract

CaCo2TeO6 is rare among diamond-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnets, as this system is driven out of long-range magnetic order by magnetic fields above 20 T and enters a quantum disordered state. Physical property and neutron diffraction measurements reveal a Jeff = 1/2 ground state with strong quantum fluctuations down to 0.06 K and a significant reduction in the static magnetic moment on both Co octahedral sites. This unique realization, which has not been observed in conventional diamond-lattice magnets with spinel structures, arises from strong competition between nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor Heisenberg exchange interactions at a similar energy scale. In contrast to the tetrahedral crystal field in spinels, the octahedral crystal field in CaCo2TeO6 enables new magnetic exchange pathways and shapes the many-body electronic energy landscape, favoring a robust J = ½ state that persists even in the presence of magnetic field perturbations. These results enable a new avenue for realizing quantum disorder in three-dimensional frustrated magnets.

*This work was supported by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation grant 2023 BYI and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation grant 2025 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar award TC-25-071. TTT acknowledges the U.S. National Science Foundation grant NSF-DMR-CAREER-2338014. The work by YC and RB at the University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was funded by the U.S. DOE under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. LPC and JA acknowledge the EPiQS Initiative of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through grant no. GBMF9067. The research performed at the Gdańsk Tech was supported by the National Science Centre (Poland) under SONATA-15 grant (UMO-2019/35/D/ST5/03769). T.K. and H.C. acknowledge the support by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences Biopreparedness Research Virtual Environment program. A portion of this work was performed at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, which is supported by National Science Foundation Cooperative Agreement No. DMR-2128556 and the State of Florida.

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Publication: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2503.18977

Presenters

  • Thao T Tran

    • Department of Chemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
    • Clemson University

Authors

  • Danielle Yahne

    • Oak Ridge National Laboratory

  • Thao T Tran

    • Department of Chemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
    • Clemson University

  • Xudong Huai

    • Department of Chemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
    • Clemson University

  • Luke Cairns

    • University of California, Berkeley

  • Bridget Delles

    • Clemson University

  • Maurice Sorolla

    • University of the Philippines Diliman

  • Michal Winiarski

    • Gdansk University of Technology

  • XINSHU ZHANG

    • University of California, Los Angeles

  • Youzhe Chen

    • University of California, Berkeley

  • Stuart Calder

    • Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA

  • Eun Sang Choi

    • National High Magnetic Field Lab
    • National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee, Florida
    • National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
    • National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida
    • NHML

  • Tatenda Kanyowa

    • Oak Ridge National Laboratory

  • Anshul Kogar

    • University of California, Los Angeles
    • UCLA

  • Huibo Cao

    • Oak Ridge National Laboratory

  • Robert J Birgeneau

    • University of California, Berkeley

  • James G Analytis

    • University of California, Berkeley