- Editors' Suggestion
- Letter
Signatures of a quantum critical endpoint in the Kitaev candidate
Phys. Rev. B 110, L140402 – Published 2 October, 2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.110.L140402
Abstract
The putative Kitaev material has recently been proposed to enter a quantum spin disordered state when magnetic fields are applied in parallel to the honeycomb layers. In this Letter we uncover signatures of a quantum critical endpoint (QCEP) associated with the assumed order-disorder transition by means of high-resolution capacitance dilatometry. At the critical field , a sign change of the out-of-plane thermal expansion coefficient indicates the accumulation of entropy upon crossing the phase boundary. The proportional relationship between isothermal magnetization and magnetostriction signals that the QCEP can be tuned by magnetic field and pressure simultaneously. The presented results expand the material classes that exhibit metamagnetic quantum criticality to honeycomb antiferromagnets with possible Kitaev interactions.