Ultralow-temperature thermal conductivity of Pr2Ir2O7: a metallic spin-liquid candidate with quantum criticality

TL;DR

This study investigates the ultralow-temperature thermal conductivity of Pr2Ir2O7, a candidate for a metallic quantum spin liquid, revealing phonon scattering by fluctuating spins and confirming electron behavior at the quantum critical point.

Contribution

First detailed thermal conductivity measurements on Pr2Ir2O7 at ultralow temperatures, providing insights into its quantum criticality and spin-liquid behavior.

Findings

Thermal conductivity suppressed above 0.12 K in zero field

Thermal conductivity saturates above 5 T field

Wiedemann-Franz law holds at high fields

Abstract

The frustrated pyrochlore iridate Pr$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ was proposed as a metallic quantum spin liquid located at a zero-field quantum critical point. Here we present the ultralow-temperature thermal conductivity measurements on the Pr$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ single crystals to detect possible exotic excitations. In zero field, the thermal conductivity shows a dramatic suppression above a characteristic temperature $T_s \approx$ 0.12 K. With increasing field, $T_s$ increases and the thermal conductivity tends to saturate above $H$ = 5 T. The Wiedemann-Franz law is verified at high fields and inferred at zero field. It suggests the normal behavior of electrons at the quantum critical point, and the absence of mobile fermionic magnetic excitations. The strong suppression of thermal conductivity is attributed to the scattering of phonons by the spin system, likely the fluctuating spins. These results shed new light on the microscopic description on this novel compound.