RESUMO
The adiabatic elastocaloric effect measures the temperature change of a given system with strain and provides a thermodynamic probe of the entropic landscape in the temperature-strain space. Here, we demonstrate that the DC bias strain-dependence of AC elastocaloric effect allows decomposition of the latter into symmetric (rotation-symmetry-preserving) and antisymmetric (rotation-symmetry-breaking) strain channels, using a tetragonal [Formula: see text]-electron intermetallic DyB[Formula: see text]C[Formula: see text]-whose antiferroquadrupolar order breaks local fourfold rotational symmetries while globally remaining tetragonal-as a showcase example. We capture the strain evolution of its quadrupolar and magnetic phase transitions using both singularities in the elastocaloric coefficient and its jumps at the transitions, and the latter we show follows a modified Ehrenfest relation. We find that antisymmetric strain couples to the underlying order parameter in a biquadratic (linear-quadratic) manner in the antiferroquadrupolar (canted antiferromagnetic) phase, which are attributed to a preserved (broken) global tetragonal symmetry, respectively. The broken tetragonal symmetry in the magnetic phase is further evidenced by elastocaloric strain-hysteresis and optical birefringence. Additionally, within the staggered quadrupolar order, the observed elastocaloric response reflects a quadratic increase of entropy with antisymmetric strain, analogous to the role magnetic field plays for Ising antiferromagnetic orders by promoting pseudospin flips. Our results demonstrate AC elastocaloric effect as a compact and incisive thermodynamic probe into the coupling between electronic degrees of freedom and strain in free energy, which holds the potential for investigating and understanding the symmetry of a wide variety of ordered phases in broader classes of quantum materials.
RESUMO
The elastocaloric effect (ECE) relates changes in entropy to changes in strain experienced by a material. As such, ECE measurements can provide valuable information about the entropy landscape proximate to strain-tuned phase transitions. For ordered states that break only point symmetries, bilinear coupling of the order parameter with strain implies that the ECE can also provide a window on fluctuations above the critical temperature and hence, in principle, can also provide a thermodynamic measure of the associated susceptibility. To demonstrate this, we use the ECE to sensitively reveal the presence of nematic fluctuations in the archetypal Fe-based superconductor Ba([Formula: see text])2[Formula: see text] By performing these measurements simultaneously with elastoresistivity in a multimodal fashion, we are able to make a direct and unambiguous comparison of these closely related thermodynamic and transport properties, both of which are sensitive to nematic fluctuations. As a result, we have uncovered an unanticipated doping dependence of the nemato-elastic coupling and of the magnitude of the scattering of low-energy quasi-particles by nematic fluctuations-while the former weakens, the latter increases dramatically with increasing doping.
RESUMO
Quantum criticality may be essential to understanding a wide range of exotic electronic behavior; however, conclusive evidence of quantum critical fluctuations has been elusive in many materials of current interest. An expected characteristic feature of quantum criticality is power-law behavior of thermodynamic quantities as a function of a nonthermal tuning parameter close to the quantum critical point (QCP). Here, we observed power-law behavior of the critical temperature of the coupled nematic/structural phase transition as a function of uniaxial stress in a representative family of iron-based superconductors, providing direct evidence of quantum critical nematic fluctuations in this material. These quantum critical fluctuations are not confined within a narrow regime around the QCP but rather extend over a wide range of temperatures and compositions.
