Abstract
TbV6Sn6 is a topological metal where ferromagnetic Tb ions with strong uniaxial magnetic anisotropy interact with V kagome layers. Inelastic neutron scattering (INS) measurements show that the Tb ions adopt an Ising doublet ground state. Here, we consider whether a transverse magnetic field can drive TbV6Sn6 toward a quantum critical point, providing a rare example of transverse-field Ising criticality in a metallic compound. High-field magnetization measurements reveal a first-order-like spin-reorientation transition at 25.6 T. Our INS-based magnetic model finds that this is caused by an avoided crossing of an excited-state singlet with the ground-state doublet. Surprisingly, our model predicts that quantum critical and tricritical points are accessible within the range of experimentally determined model parameters and may be reached by varying the direction of an applied magnetic field.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | L042045 |
| Journal | Physical Review Research |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 2025 |
Funding
The work of T.H., B.L., and R.J.M. (inelastic neutron scattering), R.D.M. and R.F. (mean-field analysis), and Y.L. and L.K. (density-functional theory) at the Ames National Laboratory was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering. The work of J.B. and R.M. (high-field measurements) and T.J.S. and P.C.C. (crystal growth and characterizations) was supported by the Center for the Advancement of Topological Semimetals (CATS), an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC), Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES), through the Ames National Laboratory. Ames National Laboratory is operated for the U.S. DOE by Iowa State University under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358. This research used resources at the Spallation Neutron Source, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 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, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the state of Florida. Acknowledgments. The work of T.H., B.L., and R.J.M. (inelastic neutron scattering), R.D.M. and R.F. (mean-field analysis), and Y.L. and L.K. (density-functional theory) at the Ames National Laboratory was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Science and Engineering. The work of J.B. and R.M. (high-field measurements) and T.J.S. and P.C.C. (crystal growth and characterizations) was supported by the Center for the Advancement of Topological Semimetals (CATS), an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC), Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES), through the Ames National Laboratory. Ames National Laboratory is operated for the U.S. DOE by Iowa State University under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11358. This research used resources at the Spallation Neutron Source, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 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, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the state of Florida.