Signatures of Three-State Potts Nematicity in Spin Excitations of the van der Waals Antiferromagnet FePSe<sub>3</sub>.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41734330.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c06293.
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Abstract
In two-dimensional (2D) nearly square-lattice quantum materials, electron correlations can induce an electronic nematic phase with 2-fold rotational (<i>C</i><sub>2</sub>) symmetry. For 2D materials with 3-fold rotational (<i>C</i><sub>3</sub>) symmetry, such as the honeycomb lattice, a vestigial three-state Potts nematic order has been observed in the van der Waals antiferromagnet FePSe<sub>3</sub> under uniaxial strain. Here, we use neutron scattering to probe the magnetic order and spin excitations of FePSe<sub>3</sub> under uniaxial strain. In the antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordered state, ∼0.6% tensile strain suppresses one zigzag domain and enhances the other two, reducing the AFM order and spin waves to <i>C</i><sub>2</sub> symmetry. This broken <i>C</i><sub>3</sub> symmetry in spin excitations persists slightly above <i>T</i><sub>N</sub> ≈ 108.6 K, where zigzag AFM order is absent. These results provide direct evidence of magnetoelastic coupling and suggest that three-state Potts nematicity in paramagnetic spin excitations originates as the vestigial order of the low-temperature zigzag AFM state.