Observation of Unprecedented Fractional Magnetization Plateaus in a New Shastry-Sutherland Ising Compound

Yadav, Lalit; Rufino, Afonso; Bag, Rabindranath; Ennis, Matthew; Koziol, Jan Alexander; dela Cruz, Clarina R.; Kolesnikov, Alexander I.; Garlea, Vasile Ovidiu; Taddei, Keith M.; Graf, David; Schmidt, Kai Phillip; Mila, Frédéric; Haravifard, Sara

doi:10.1103/9ynf-xx1t

Observation of Unprecedented Fractional Magnetization Plateaus in a New Shastry-Sutherland Ising Compound

Journal Article · Mon Dec 08 00:00:00 EST 2025 · Physical Review. X

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/9ynf-xx1t· OSTI ID:3011551

^[1]; ^[2]; Bag, Rabindranath ^[1]; Ennis, Matthew ^[1]; Koziol, Jan Alexander ^[3]; ^[4]; ^[4]; ^[4]; ^[4]; ^[5]; Schmidt, Kai Phillip ^[3]; ^[2]; ^[6]

Duke University, Durham, NC (United States)
Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne (EPFL) (Switzerland)
Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Bamberg (Germany)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL (United States). National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab)
Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States)

Geometrically frustrated magnetic systems, such as those based on the Shastry-Sutherland lattice (SSL), offer a rich playground for exploring unconventional magnetic states. The delicate balance between competing interactions in these systems leads to the emergence of novel phases. We present the characterization of Er₂⁢Be_2⁢GeO₇, an SSL compound with Er³⁺ ions forming orthogonal dimers separated by nonmagnetic layers whose structure is invariant under the 𝑃⁢$$\bar{4}21$$⁢𝑚 space group. Neutron scattering reveals an antiferromagnetic dimer structure at zero field, typical of Ising spins on that lattice and consistent with the anisotropic magnetization observed. However, magnetization measurements exhibit fractional plateaus at 1/4 and 1/2 of saturation, in contrast to the expected 1/3 plateau of the SSL Ising model. By comparing the energy of candidate states with ground-state lower bounds we show that this behavior requires spatially anisotropic interactions, leading to an anisotropic Shastry-Sutherland Ising model symmetric under the 𝐶⁢𝑚⁢𝑚⁢2 space group. This anisotropy is consistent with the small orthorhombic distortion observed with single-crystal neutron diffraction. The other properties, including thermodynamics, which have been investigated theoretically using tensor networks, point to small residual interactions, potentially due to further couplings and quantum fluctuations. This study highlights Er₂⁢Be₂⁢GeO₇ as a promising platform for investigating exotic magnetic phenomena.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 3011551

Journal Information:: Physical Review. X, Journal Name: Physical Review. X Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 15; ISSN 2160-3308

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (41)

The high-resolution powder diffractometer at the high flux isotope reactor Garlea, V. O.; Chakoumakos, B. C.; Moore, S. A. Applied Physics A, Vol. 99, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-010-5603-6	journal	March 2010
Exact ground state of a quantum mechanical antiferromagnet Sriram Shastry, B.; Sutherland, Bill Physica B+C, Vol. 108, Issue 1-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-4363(81)90838-X	journal	August 1981
Point-Charge Calculations of Energy Levels of Magnetic Ions in Crystalline Electric Fields Hutchings, Michael T. Solid State Physics https://doi.org/10.1016/S0081-1947(08)60517-2	book	January 1964
Structure and Magnetic Properties of Melilite-Type Compounds RE₂Be₂GeO₇ (RE = Pr, Nd, Gd–Yb) with Rare-Earth Ions on Shastry–Sutherland Lattice Ashtar, Malik; Bai, Yuming; Xu, Longmeng Inorganic Chemistry, Vol. 60, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c03131	journal	February 2021
Spin liquids in frustrated magnets Balents, Leon Nature, Vol. 464, Issue 7286 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08917	journal	March 2010
Field-induced partial disorder in a Shastry-Sutherland lattice Marshall, Madalynn; Billingsley, Brianna R.; Bai, Xiaojian Nature Communications, Vol. 14, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39409-1	journal	June 2023
A quantum magnetic analogue to the critical point of water Jiménez, J. Larrea; Crone, S. P. G.; Fogh, E. Nature, Vol. 592, Issue 7854 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03411-8	journal	April 2021
Magnetisation process in the rare earth tetraborides, NdB4 and HoB4 Brunt, D.; Balakrishnan, G.; Mayoh, D. A. Scientific Reports, Vol. 8, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-18301-1	journal	January 2018
Ground state and stability of the fractional plateau phase in metallic Shastry–Sutherland system TmB4 Orendáč, Matúš; Gabáni, Slavomír; Farkašovský, Pavol Scientific Reports, Vol. 11, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86353-5	journal	March 2021
Crystal-field interaction in the pyrochlore magnet Ho2Ti2O7 Rosenkranz, S.; Ramirez, A. P.; Hayashi, A. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 87, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.372565	journal	May 2000
Magnetostriction and magnetic texture to 100.75 Tesla in frustrated SrCu2(BO3)2 Jaime, M.; Daou, R.; Crooker, S. A. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 109, Issue 31 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1200743109	journal	July 2012
Matrix Elements and Operator Equivalents Connected with the Magnetic Properties of Rare Earth Ions Stevens, K. W. H. Proceedings of the Physical Society. Section A, Vol. 65, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1088/0370-1298/65/3/308	journal	March 1952
SEQUOIA: A Newly Operating Chopper Spectrometer at the SNS Granroth, G. E.; Kolesnikov, A. I.; Sherline, T. E. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 251 https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/251/1/012058	journal	November 2010
Polarized neutron scattering on HYSPEC: the HYbrid SPECtrometer at SNS Zaliznyak, Igor A.; Savici, Andrei T.; Ovidiu Garlea, V. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 862 https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/862/1/012030	journal	June 2017
Distinct magnetic ground states in Shastry-Sutherland lattice materials: Pr2Be2GeO7 versus Nd2Be2GeO7 Liu, Andi; Song, Fangyuan; Cao, Yaotao Physical Review B, Vol. 109, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.109.184413	journal	May 2024
Candidate for a quantum spin liquid ground state in the Shastry-Sutherland lattice material Yb2Be2GeO7 Pula, M.; Sharma, S.; Gautreau, J. Physical Review B, Vol. 110, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.110.014412	journal	July 2024
Monte Carlo study of three-dimensional—to—one-dimensional crossover in the Ising model Graim, Tom; Landau, D. P. Physical Review B, Vol. 24, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.24.5156	journal	November 1981
PrRu 2 Si 2 : A giant anisotropic induced magnet with a singlet crystal-field ground state Mulders, A. M.; Yaouanc, A.; Dalmas de Réotier, P. Physical Review B, Vol. 56, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.56.8752	journal	October 1997
Phases and magnetization process of an anisotropic Shastry-Sutherland model Meng, Zi Yang; Wessel, Stefan Physical Review B, Vol. 78, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.78.224416	journal	December 2008
Simulation of two-dimensional quantum systems on an infinite lattice revisited: Corner transfer matrix for tensor contraction Orús, Román; Vidal, Guifré Physical Review B, Vol. 80, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.80.094403	journal	September 2009
Finite-temperature phase transition to the m = 1 2 plateau phase in the spin- 1 2 X X Z model on the Shastry-Sutherland lattices Suzuki, T.; Tomita, Y.; Kawashima, N. Physical Review B, Vol. 82, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.82.214404	journal	December 2010
Magnitude of quantum effects in classical spin ices Rau, Jeffrey G.; Gingras, Michel J. P. Physical Review B, Vol. 92, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.92.144417	journal	October 2015
Finding and proving the exact ground state of a generalized Ising model by convex optimization and MAX-SAT Huang, Wenxuan; Kitchaev, Daniil A.; Dacek, Stephen T. Physical Review B, Vol. 94, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.134424	journal	October 2016
Theory of Magnetization Plateaux in the Shastry-Sutherland Model Dorier, J.; Schmidt, K. P.; Mila, F. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 101, Issue 25 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.250402	journal	December 2008
Ground States of the Ising Model on the Shastry-Sutherland Lattice and the Origin of the Fractional Magnetization Plateaus in Rare-Earth-Metal Tetraborides Dublenych, Yu. I. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 109, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.167202	journal	October 2012
Incomplete Devil’s Staircase in the Magnetization Curve of SrCu 2 ( BO 3 ) 2 Takigawa, M.; Horvatić, M.; Waki, T. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 110, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.067210	journal	February 2013
Magnetization of SrCu 2 ( BO 3 ) 2 in Ultrahigh Magnetic Fields up to 118 T Matsuda, Y. H.; Abe, N.; Takeyama, S. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 111, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.137204	journal	September 2013
Crystals of Bound States in the Magnetization Plateaus of the Shastry-Sutherland Model Corboz, Philippe; Mila, Frédéric Physical Review Letters, Vol. 112, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.147203	journal	April 2014
Magnetic properties of the Shastry-Sutherland lattice material BaNd2ZnO5 Ishii, Yuto; Sala, G.; Stone, M. B. Physical Review Materials, Vol. 5, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.5.064418	journal	June 2021
Solving frustrated Ising models using tensor networks Vanhecke, Bram; Colbois, Jeanne; Vanderstraeten, Laurens Physical Review Research, Vol. 3, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.013041	journal	January 2021
PyCrystalField : software for calculation, analysis and fitting of crystal electric field Hamiltonians Scheie, A. Journal of Applied Crystallography, Vol. 54, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1107/S160057672001554X	journal	February 2021
Magnetic Superstructure in the Two-Dimensional Quantum Antiferromagnet SrCu2(BO3)2 Kodama, K. Science, Vol. 298, Issue 5592 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1075045	journal	October 2002
Corner Transfer Matrix Renormalization Group Method Nishino, Tomotoshi; Okunishi, Kouichi Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, Vol. 65, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1143/JPSJ.65.891	journal	April 1996
Anomalous Magnetizations in Single Crystalline SrCu ₂ (BO ₃ ) ₂ Kageyama, Hiroshi; Onizuka, Kenzo; Yamauchi, Touru Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, Vol. 68, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1143/JPSJ.68.1821	journal	June 1999
1/3 Magnetization Plateau in SrCu ₂ (BO ₃ ) ₂ - Stripe Order of Excited Triplets - Onizuka, Kenzo; Kageyama, Hiroshi; Narumi, Yasuo Journal of the Physical Society of Japan, Vol. 69, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1143/JPSJ.69.1016	journal	April 2000
Frustrated Quantum Rare-Earth Pyrochlores Rau, Jeffrey G.; Gingras, Michel J. P. Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics, Vol. 10, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-conmatphys-022317-110520	journal	March 2019
A Field Guide to Spin Liquids Knolle, J.; Moessner, R. Annual Review of Condensed Matter Physics, Vol. 10, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-conmatphys-031218-013401	journal	March 2019
Symmetry-Based Computational Tools for Magnetic Crystallography Perez-Mato, J. M.; Gallego, S. V.; Tasci, E. S. Annual Review of Materials Research, Vol. 45, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-matsci-070214-021008	journal	July 2015
Systematic analysis of crystalline phases in bosonic lattice models with algebraically decaying density-density interactions Koziol, Jan Alexander; Duft, Antonia; Morigi, Giovanna SciPost Physics, Vol. 14, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.21468/SciPostPhys.14.5.136	journal	May 2023
Quantum phases of hardcore bosons with repulsive dipolar density-density interactions on two-dimensional lattices Koziol, Jan Alexander; Morigi, Giovanna; Schmidt, Kai Phillip SciPost Physics, Vol. 17, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.21468/SciPostPhys.17.4.111	journal	October 2024
DAVE: A Comprehensive Software Suite for the Reduction, Visualization, and Analysis of Low Energy Neutron Spectroscopic Data Azuah, Richard Tumanjong; Kneller, Larry R.; Qiu, Yiming Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Vol. 114, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.6028/jres.114.025	journal	November 2009

Similar Records

Degeneracy of the 1/8 Plateau and Antiferromagnetic Phases in the Shastry-Sutherland Magnet TmB₄

Journal Article · Wed Oct 17 20:00:00 EDT 2018 · Physical Review Letters · OSTI ID:1481018

Criticality and Magnetic Phases of Ising Shastry–Sutherland Candidate Holmium Tetraboride

Journal Article · Sun May 25 20:00:00 EDT 2025 · Materials · OSTI ID:3030733

Observation of Unprecedented Fractional Magnetization Plateaus in a New Shastry-Sutherland Ising Compound

Citation Formats

References (41)

Similar Records

Related Subjects