- Accepted Paper
Quantum disordered ground state and relative proximity to an exactly solvable model in the frustrated magnet CeMgAlO
Phys. Rev. Research - Accepted 19 August, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/kqxq-g723
Phys. Rev. Research - Accepted 19 August, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/kqxq-g723
The magnetic properties of the triangular magnet CeMgAlO were investigated by magnetization and specific heat measurements down to K on single crystals grown by the floating zone method. The formation of effective spins below ,K was confirmed both by DFT calculations and specific heat measurements. No magnetic order was found down to K despite the formation of magnetic correlations observed in specific heat. The measured magnetization was compared with DMRG calculations and their agreement supports the proposal of a strongly anisotropic magnetic interaction antiferromagnetically coupling the spin components in the plane and ferromagnetically coupling the spin component along the axis. However, our quantitative study of the magnetization places CeMgAlO further from the ferromagnetic quantum critical point than inferred from the previous inelastic neutron scattering study. Finally, we suggest that the absence of magnetic order may be promoted by the structural disorder revealed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (Ce deficiency, Mg/Al site mixing, and Al(5) splitting).
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