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Direct probe of magnetic field effects on phonons by ultrasound propagation in the quasi-two-dimensional honeycomb magnet Na2Co2TeO6

Xiaochen Hong1,2,3,*, Maximilian Schiffer2, Beat Valentin Schwarze4, Marc Uhlarz4, Xianghong Jin5, Weiliang Yao5, Lukas Janssen6, Sergei Zherlitsyn4, Bernd Büchner3,7 et al.

Yuan Li5,8, Young Sun1, and Christian Hess2,3,†

  • *Contact author: hongxc@cqu.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: c.hess@uni-wuppertal.de
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Phys. Rev. B 112, 094403 – Published 2 September, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/kw7z-226c

Abstract

We study the phonon behavior of the Co-based honeycomb frustrated magnet Na2Co2TeO6 under a magnetic field applied perpendicular to the honeycomb plane. The temperature and field dependence of the sound velocity and sound attenuation unveil prominent spin-lattice coupling in this material, promoting ultrasound as a sensitive probe for magnetic properties. An out-of-plane ferrimagnetic order is determined below the Néel temperature TN=27 K. A comprehensive analysis of our data further supports a triple-Q ground state of Na2Co2TeO6. Furthermore, the ultrasound data were systematically compared to the thermal transport results from literature, to unveil the importance of the phononic contribution to the observed transport behaviors.

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Phys. Rev. B 112, 094403– Published 2 September, 2025
  • Received 1 June 2025
  • Revised 13 August 2025
  • Accepted 18 August 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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