Abstract
It has recently been suggested that the organic compound NiCl2-4SC(NH2)2 (DTN) undergoes field-induced Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of the Ni spin degrees of freedom. The Ni S = 1 spins exhibit
three-dimensional XY antiferromagnetism above a critical field Hc1 ∼ 2 T. The spin fluid can be described as a gas of hard-core bosons where the field-induced antiferromagnetic transition corresponds
to Bose-Einstein condensation. We have determined the spin Hamiltonian of DTN using inelastic neutron diffraction measurements, and we have studied the high-field phase diagram by means of specific heat and magnetocaloric effect measurements. Our results show that the field-temperature phase boundary approaches a power-law H - Hc1 ∞ Tαc near the quantum critical point, with an exponent that is
consistent with the 3D BEC universal value of α= 1.5.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Physical Review Letters |
Volume | 96 |
Pages (from-to) | 077204 |
Number of pages | 4 |
ISSN | 0031-9007 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2006 |
Externally published | Yes |