Local quantum phase transition in YFe<sub>2</sub>Al<sub>10</sub>.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29915042.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.1721493115 and PMC identifier 6142233.
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Abstract
A phase transition occurs when correlated regions of a new phase grow to span the system and the fluctuations within the correlated regions become long lived. Here, we present neutron scattering measurements showing that this conventional picture must be replaced in YFe<sub>2</sub>Al<sub>10</sub>, a compound that forms naturally very close to a [Formula: see text] quantum phase transition. Fully quantum mechanical fluctuations of localized moments are found to diverge at low energies and temperatures; however, the fluctuating moments are entirely without spatial correlations. Zero temperature order in YFe<sub>2</sub>Al<sub>10</sub> is achieved by an entirely local type of quantum phase transition that may originate with the creation of the moments themselves.