Induced Random Fields in the LiHo$_x$Y$_{1-x}$F$_4$ Quantum Ising Magnet in a Transverse Magnetic Field

Tabei, S. M. A.; Gingras, M. J. P.; Kao, Y. -J.; Stasiak, P.; Fortin, J. -Y.

Induced Random Fields in the LiHo$_x$Y$_{1-x}$F$_4$ Quantum Ising Magnet in a Transverse Magnetic Field

Authors

Description

The LiHo$_x$Y$_{1-x}$F$_4$ magnetic material in a transverse magnetic field $B_{x}\hat x$ perpendicular to the Ising spin direction has long been used to study tunable quantum phase transitions in a random disordered system. We show that the $B_{x}-$induced magnetization along the $\hat x$ direction, combined with the local random dilution-induced destruction of crystalline symmetries, generates, via the predominant dipolar interactions between Ho$^{3+}$ ions, {\it random fields} along the Ising $\hat z$ direction. This identifies LiHo$_x$Y$_{1-x}$F$_4$ in $B_x$ as a new random field Ising system. The random fields explain the rapid decrease of the critical temperature in the diluted ferromagnetic regime and the smearing of the nonlinear susceptibility at the spin glass transition with increasing $B_{x}$, and render the $B_{x}-$induced quantum criticality in LiHo$_x$Y$_{1-x}$F$_4$ likely inaccessible.
Version #2. Three figures. Slight modification of abstract compared to version #1. Minor typos corrected. To appear in Physical Review Letters