Thermal conductivity of IPA-CuCl3: Evidence for ballistic magnon transport and the limited applicability of the Bose-Einstein condensation model

Z. Y. Zhao, B. Tong, X. Zhao, L. M. Chen, J. Shi, F. B. Zhang, J. D. Song, S. J. Li, J. C. Wu, H. S. Xu, X. G. Liu, and X. F. Sun
Phys. Rev. B 91, 134420 – Published 17 April 2015

Abstract

The heat transport of the spin-gapped material (CH3)2CHNH3CuCl3 (IPA-CuCl3), a candidate quantum magnet with Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), is studied at ultralow temperatures and in high magnetic fields. Due to the presence of the spin gap, the zero-field thermal conductivity (κ) is purely phononic and shows a ballistic behavior at T<1 K. When the gap is closed by magnetic field at H=Hc1, where a long-range antiferromanetic (AF) order of Cu2+ moments is developed, the magnons contribute significantly to heat transport and exhibit a ballistic T3 behavior at T<600 mK. In addition, the low-Tκ(H) isotherms show sharp peaks at Hc1, which indicates a gap reopening in the AF state (H>Hc1) and demonstrates limited applicability of the BEC model to IPA-CuCl3.

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  • Received 1 January 2015
  • Revised 4 April 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.91.134420

©2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Z. Y. Zhao1,*, B. Tong1, X. Zhao2,†, L. M. Chen3, J. Shi4, F. B. Zhang1, J. D. Song1, S. J. Li1, J. C. Wu1, H. S. Xu1, X. G. Liu1, and X. F. Sun1,5,6,‡

  • 1Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, People's Republic of China
  • 2School of Physical Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, People's Republic of China
  • 3College of Electronic Science Engineering, Nanjing University of Post and Telecommunication, Nanjing, Jiangsu 211106, People's Republic of China
  • 4Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, People's Republic of China
  • 5Key Laboratory of Strongly-Coupled Quantum Matter Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui 230026, People's Republic of China
  • 6Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, People's Republic of China

  • *Present address: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1200, USA.
  • xiazhao@ustc.edu.cn
  • xfsun@ustc.edu.cn

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Vol. 91, Iss. 13 — 1 April 2015

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