Abstract
Electrons in the pyrochlore iridates experience a large interaction energy in addition to a strong spin-orbit interaction. Both features make the iridates promising for realizing novel states such as the topological Mott insulator.The pyrochlore iridate Eu 2 Ir 2 O 7 shows a metal-insulator transition at T N 1/4 120 K below which a magnetically ordered state develops. Using torque magnetometry, we uncover an unusual magnetic response. A magnetic field H applied in its a-b plane produces a nonlinear magnetization M orthogonal to the plane. M displays a d-wave field-angle pattern consistent with octupolar order, with a handedness dictated by field cooling, leading to symmetry breaking of the chirality. A surprise is that the lobe orientation of the d-wave pattern is sensitive to the direction of the field when the sample is field-cooled below T N, suggestive of an additional order parameter • already present at 300 K.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 599-603 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Nature Physics |
Volume | 13 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2 2017 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Physics and Astronomy