Two Plaquette-Singlet Phases and Emergent SO(5) Deconfined Quantum Criticality in SrCu2(BO3)2

TL;DR

This study reveals multiple plaquette-singlet phases and evidence for an SO(5) deconfined quantum critical point in SrCu2(BO3)2 through high-pressure NMR experiments, advancing understanding of quantum criticality in this material.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed experimental evidence of full- and empty-plaquette phases and their phase transitions, supporting an SO(5) symmetry in the deconfined quantum critical point in SrCu2(BO3)2.

Findings

Identification of full- and empty-plaquette phases in SrCu2(BO3)2.

Observation of a pressure-driven first-order phase transition.

Scaling behavior of spin-lattice relaxation rate indicating a different universality class.

Abstract

The deconfined quantum critical point (DQCP) has become a central open concept in the physics of quantum matter, and its proposed presence in the Shastry-Sutherland model was followed by the experimental observation of at least a minimal DQC scenario induced by an applied magnetic field in SrCu$_2$(BO$_3$)$_2$. However, the nature of the plaquette-singlet phase in SrCu$_2$(BO$_3$)$_2$ remains unresolved, and with it the identification of the DQCP symmetry from among several theoretical scenarios. Here we perform detailed high-pressure $^{11}$B NMR studies to reveal the presence of both the full-plaquette (FP) and empty-plaquette (EP) phases in SrCu$_2$(BO$_3$)$_2$, phase-separated at a first-order, pressure-driven transition with a volume-fraction effect. The field-driven transition from the EP to the antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase complements our previous observations of the FP--AFM transition, with both showing deconfined quantum criticality, while the scaling of the spin-lattice relaxation rate near the EP--AFM transition, $1/T_1 \propto T^{0.6}$, suggests a DQCP governed by a different universality class. We discuss possible extensions to the Shastry-Sutherland model that account for these pressure and field effects. The expanded phase space we discover mandates an SO(5) DQCP symmetry, and hence our results take an important step towards a complete understanding of deconfined quantum criticality in SrCu$_2$(BO$_3$)$_2$.