S. M. Disseler, Chetan Dhital, T. C. Hogan, A. Amato, S. R. Giblin, Clarina de la Cruz, A. Daoud-Aladine, Stephen D. Wilson, M. J. Graf
We report a combined muon spin relaxation/rotation, bulk magnetization,
neutron scattering, and transport study of the electronic properties of the
pyrochlore iridate Nd2Ir2O7. We observe the onset of strongly hysteretic
behavior in the temperature dependent magnetization below 120 K, and an abrupt
increase in the temperature dependent resistivity below 8 K. Zero field muon
spin relaxation measurements show that the hysteretic magnetization is driven
by a transition to a magnetically disordered state, and that below 8 K a
complex magnetically ordered ground state sets in, as evidenced by the onset of
heavily damped spontaneous muon precession. Our measurements point toward the
absence of a true metal-to-insulator phase transition in this material and
suggest that Nd2Ir2O7 lies either within or on the metallic side of the
boundary of the Dirac semimetal regime within its topological phase diagram.
View original:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1201.4606
No comments:
Post a Comment