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A parity-breaking electronic nematic phase transition in the spin-orbit coupled metal Cd₂Re₂O₇

Harter, J. W. and Zhao, Z. Y. and Yan, J.-Q. and Mandrus, D. G. and Hsieh, D. (2017) A parity-breaking electronic nematic phase transition in the spin-orbit coupled metal Cd₂Re₂O₇. Science, 356 (6335). pp. 295-299. ISSN 0036-8075. doi:10.1126/science.aad1188. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170420-145037343

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Abstract

Strong electron interactions can drive metallic systems toward a variety of well-known symmetry-broken phases, but the instabilities of correlated metals with strong spin-orbit coupling have only recently begun to be explored. We uncovered a multipolar nematic phase of matter in the metallic pyrochlore Cd₂Re₂O₇ using spatially resolved second-harmonic optical anisotropy measurements. Like previously discovered electronic nematic phases, this multipolar phase spontaneously breaks rotational symmetry while preserving translational invariance. However, it has the distinguishing property of being odd under spatial inversion, which is allowed only in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. By examining the critical behavior of the multipolar nematic order parameter, we show that it drives the thermal phase transition near 200 kelvin in Cd₂Re₂O₇ and induces a parity-breaking lattice distortion as a secondary order.


Item Type:Article
Related URLs:
URLURL TypeDescription
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aad1188DOIArticle
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/356/6335/295/suppl/DC1PublisherSupplementary Materials
https://arxiv.org/abs/1704.07399arXivDiscussion Paper
https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/new-quantum-liquid-crystals-may-play-role-future-computers-54788Featured InCaltech News
ORCID:
AuthorORCID
Harter, J. W.0000-0002-7146-9370
Zhao, Z. Y.0000-0002-7878-8972
Yan, J.-Q.0000-0001-6625-4706
Mandrus, D. G.0000-0003-3616-7104
Hsieh, D.0000-0002-0812-955X
Alternate Title:A parity-breaking electronic nematic phase transition in the spin-orbit coupled metal Cd2Re2O7
Additional Information:© 2017 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Received 19 October 2016; accepted 20 March 2017. We thank J. P. Eisenstein, L. Fu, T. Hsieh, P. A. Lee, A. de la Torre, and L. Zhao for useful discussions. RA-SHG experiments were supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under grant DE-SC0010533. Instrumentation for the RA-SHG setup was partially supported by a U.S. Army Research Office Defense University Research Instrumentation Program award under grant W911NF-13-1-0293 and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation under grant FG-BR2014-027. D.H. also acknowledges funding from the Institute for Quantum Information and Matter, a NSF Physics Frontiers Center (PHY-1125565) with support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through grant GBMF1250. J.-Q.Y. and D.G.M. were supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. Z.Y.Z. acknowledges the Center for Emergent Materials and NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center under grant DMR-1420451. D.H. and D. H. Torchinsky are inventors on U.S. patent application #14/705,831 submitted by the California Institute of Technology, which covers a spectrometer apparatus for the study of the crystallographic and electronic symmetries of crystals and methods of using said apparatus. The data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Group:Institute for Quantum Information and Matter
Funders:
Funding AgencyGrant Number
Department of Energy (DOE)DE-SC0010533
Army Research Office (ARO)W911NF-13-1-0293
Alfred P. Sloan FoundationFG-BR2014-027
Institute for Quantum Information and Matter (IQIM)UNSPECIFIED
NSFPHY-1125565
Gordon and Betty Moore FoundationGBMF1250
NSFDMR-1420451
Issue or Number:6335
DOI:10.1126/science.aad1188
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20170420-145037343
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170420-145037343
Official Citation:A parity-breaking electronic nematic phase transition in the spin-orbit coupled metal Cd2Re2O7 By J. W. Harter, Z. Y. Zhao, J.-Q. Yan, D. G. Mandrus, D. Hsieh Science 21 Apr 2017 : 295-299
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:76787
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: Tony Diaz
Deposited On:20 Apr 2017 22:19
Last Modified:28 Feb 2023 19:43

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