Perspective: Probing elasto-quantum materials with X-ray techniques and in situ anisotropic strain

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in using in situ X-ray techniques to probe anisotropic lattice deformations and elasto-quantum effects in quantum materials, highlighting new opportunities for understanding emergent phenomena.

Contribution

It introduces the integration of in situ strain tuning with X-ray methods to study microscopic elasto-responses in quantum materials, emphasizing recent studies and future prospects.

Findings

Demonstrated the use of elasto-X-ray techniques in various material systems

Revealed the role of anisotropic strain in emergent quantum phenomena

Highlighted the potential for discovering new elasto-quantum effects

Abstract

Anisotropic lattice deformation plays an important role in the quantum mechanics of solid state physics. The possibility of mediating the competition and cooperation among different order parameters by applying in situ strain/stress on quantum materials has led to discoveries of a variety of elasto-quantum effects on emergent phenomena. It has become increasingly critical to have the capability of combining the in situ strain tuning with X-ray techniques, especially those based on synchrotrons, to probe the microscopic elasto-responses of the lattice, spin, charge, and orbital degrees of freedom. Herein, we briefly review the recent studies that embarked on utilizing elasto-X-ray characterizations on representative material systems and demonstrated the emerging opportunities enabled by this method. With that, we further discuss the promising prospect in this rising area of quantum materials research and the bright future of elasto-X-ray techniques.