Spectrally sharp magnetic excitations above the critical temperature in a frustrated Weyl semimetal

Michael Terilli (), Xun Jia, Xiaoran Liu, Pontus Laurell, Ana-Marija Nedić, Yueqing Chang, Tsung-Chi Wu, Huyongqing Chen, Hongze Li, Mary H. Upton, Jungho Kim, Jong-Woo Kim, Philip J. Ryan, Christie Nelson, Jianshi Zhou, Mikhail Kareev, Wanzheng Hu, Jedediah H. Pixley, Gregory A. Fiete, Yue Cao and Jak Chakhalian ()
Additional contact information
Michael Terilli: Rutgers University
Xun Jia: Argonne National Laboratory
Xiaoran Liu: Rutgers University
Pontus Laurell: University of Tennessee
Ana-Marija Nedić: University of Minnesota
Yueqing Chang: Rutgers University
Tsung-Chi Wu: Rutgers University
Huyongqing Chen: Boston University
Hongze Li: University of Texas at Austin
Mary H. Upton: Argonne National Laboratory
Jungho Kim: Argonne National Laboratory
Jong-Woo Kim: Argonne National Laboratory
Philip J. Ryan: Argonne National Laboratory
Christie Nelson: Brookhaven National Laboratory
Jianshi Zhou: University of Texas at Austin
Mikhail Kareev: Rutgers University
Wanzheng Hu: Boston University
Jedediah H. Pixley: Rutgers University
Gregory A. Fiete: Northeastern University
Yue Cao: Argonne National Laboratory
Jak Chakhalian: Rutgers University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract The rare-earth α-pyrochlore iridates are a prospective class of conducting frustrated magnets where electronic correlations, large spin-orbit coupling, and geometrical frustration interplay, leading to a rich set of magnetic and electronic phases. Despite their intriguing properties, the magnetic order and excitations in this fundamental class of topological quantum materials remain poorly understood due to challenges in growing large single crystals and insufficient microscopic information on their temperature-dependent phases. Here, by combining state-of-the-art thin-film synthesis, resonant elastic and inelastic X-ray scattering, spin wave analysis, and dynamical spin susceptibility calculations, we unequivocally reveal the presence of spectrally sharp, gapped magnetic excitations in Y2Ir2O7 that surprisingly persist well above the Néel transition temperature, signaling the presence of a quasi-universal regime connected to fluctuations on frustrated lattices. This finding implies the existence of a highly unusual cooperative paramagnetic (CP) phase above the ordering temperature and offers an explanation for the puzzling high-temperature magnetic behavior observed across the family of metallic pyrochlore crystals. Understanding such magnetic excitations at technologically relevant temperatures opens up possibilities for novel topological spintronic devices.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-61752-8 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-61752-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61752-8

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().