Three-state nematicity in the triangular lattice antiferromagnet Fe1/3NbS2

Nematic order is the breaking of rotational symmetry in the presence of translational invariance. While originally defined in the context of liquid crystals, the concept of nematic order has arisen in crystalline matter with discrete rotational symmetry, most prominently in the tetragonal Fe-based s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature materials 2020-10, Vol.19 (10), p.1062-1067
Main Authors: Little, Arielle, Lee, Changmin, John, Caolan, Doyle, Spencer, Maniv, Eran, Nair, Nityan L., Chen, Wenqin, Rees, Dylan, Venderbos, Jörn W. F., Fernandes, Rafael M., Analytis, James G., Orenstein, Joseph
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
140/125
639/624/1107/510
639/766/119/2795
639/766/119/997
639/766/400/1101
Anisotropy
Antiferromagnetism
Biomaterials
Chemistry and Materials Science
Condensed Matter Physics
Crystals
Heat
Ising model
Lasers
Liquid crystals
MATERIALS SCIENCE
Nanotechnology
Nematic crystals
Optical and Electronic Materials
Optics
Order parameters
Parameter identification
Phase transitions
Physics
Polarimetry
Response functions
Superconductors
Symmetry
Tensors
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Summary:Nematic order is the breaking of rotational symmetry in the presence of translational invariance. While originally defined in the context of liquid crystals, the concept of nematic order has arisen in crystalline matter with discrete rotational symmetry, most prominently in the tetragonal Fe-based superconductors where the parent state is four-fold symmetric. In this case the nematic director takes on only two directions, and the order parameter in such ‘Ising-nematic’ systems is a simple scalar. Here, using a spatially resolved optical polarimetry technique, we show that a qualitatively distinct nematic state arises in the triangular lattice antiferromagnet Fe 1/3 NbS 2 . The crucial difference is that the nematic order on the triangular lattice is a Z 3 or three-state Potts-nematic order parameter. As a consequence, the anisotropy axes of response functions such as the resistivity tensor can be continuously reoriented by external perturbations. This discovery lays the groundwork for devices that exploit analogies with nematic liquid crystals. A spatially resolved optical polarimetry technique is used to identify a three-state Potts-nematic order parameter in a triangular lattice antiferromagnetic material.
ISSN:1476-1122
1476-4660
DOI:10.1038/s41563-020-0681-0