Terbium Manganese Tin Quantum Magnet Quantum Metric Effect
The Quantum Magnet
Room-Temperature Quantum Magnets Expand Device Potential
A breakthrough approach to regulate quantum events at ambient temperature has been discovered, overcoming a major barrier to quantum technology development. Researchers have discovered that terbium manganese tin (TbMn₆Sn₆), a quantum magnet, has an adjustable second-harmonic electrical response, enabling energy-efficient electronic systems.
A Quantum Leap from Theory to Tech
Quantum materials' unique properties, especially quantum geometry, have been limited to theoretical disputes or cryogenic experiments for decades. This greatly reduces their practicality and commercial feasibility. According to a Nature Communications study, terbium manganese tin's potent and adjustable quantum transport effects at room temperature are unique and may help bridge the gap between abstract quantum theory and next-generation electronics.
The material's quantum metric, a geometric feature of electron wavefunctions that affects how strongly it reacts to electric fields in nonlinear ways, such as generating greater signal harmonics, is important to this discovery. Monash University and Weizmann Institute researchers have revealed how to accurately regulate this effect with modest magnetic fields along with demonstrating its existence at ambient temperature.
The Kagome Crystal contains TbMn₆Sn₆.
This study focusses on a kagome-lattice magnet, terbium manganese tin (TbMn₆Sn₆). Its name comes from a Japanese basket-weaving design and its triangular atomic structure. These geometric shapes are known to exhibit rich quantum behaviour, especially with magnetic order.
The ambient temperature condition of TbMn₆Sn₆, nearing a spontaneous spin reorientation transition, is significant. In simple terms, its intrinsic magnetic moments are about to shift direction. Thus, this transitional zone is strategically important because researchers can easily apply modest magnetic fields to change the material's internal symmetry.
By breaking symmetry, quantum metric effects can be unlocked.
In quantum geometry, the study of electron states in momentum space, the Berry curvature and quantum metric are important. The quantum metric alone causes nonlinear electrical reactions, but Berry curvature is linked to topological events. Time-reversal and inversion symmetry must be broken for the quantum metric to produce a second-order electrical response.
Breaking a perfectly symmetrical dance is like this complex thought. Every motion has an equal and opposite counteraction (unbroken symmetry), hence there is no net effect. The “dance falls slightly out of sync,” or breaks time and spatial symmetries, creates new patterns. Asymmetry in this material allows a second-order electrical response, allowing quantum geometry to alter electron mobility. The signal remains hidden if neither symmetry is disturbed. Researchers used small magnetic fields to simulate the spin-reorientation transition in TbMn₆Sn₆.
Experiments Show
To demonstrate this effect, the study team employed focused ion beam techniques to fabricate two tiny Hall bar devices from single-crystal TbMn₆Sn₆ samples. By providing an alternating current and measuring the voltage at twice the input frequency, they observed a strong second-harmonic transport signal.
Critically, the signal indicated two components: one unaffected by the magnetic field and the other that reversed when the field direction changed. Quantum metric effects differ from classical scattering and external influences in this respect. The magnetic field perpendicular to the kagome plane produced the higher second-harmonic signal, which fulfils theoretical symmetry breaking expectations. Comparing device geometries supported this. In a "quantum metric dipole," the quantum metric changes momentum states to allow nonlinear transit at the electronic level, explaining the signal.
Quantum Technologies have broad implications
Practical implications make these discoveries noteworthy beyond intellectual curiosity. Creating a robust, tunable second-harmonic signal at 300 K is innovative. CsV₃Sb₅ and MnBi₂Te₄, formerly considered for quantum metric-driven devices, lacked tunability or required cryogenic cooling below 30 K. However, TbMn₆Sn₆ offers external controllability and high-temperature operation, crucial for usable devices.
Quantum sensing, neuromorphic computing, and spintronics benefit from this innovation. Energy-efficient computing components, tunable filters, and signal rectifiers without semiconductors could be manufactured via nonlinear devices that react selectively to frequency or direction. As more topologically rich magnetic materials are studied, this work proves that quantum geometry is no longer limited to theoretical notions or deep cryogenic labs, enabling new device classes.
Struggles and Prospects
Despite the promising results, the researchers note many limitations and suggest more research. Precision microfabrication methods employed in this study may not scale to wafer-level manufacturing yet. Even with the powerful and tunable nonlinear signal, commercial circuit efficiency requires considerable optimisation.
The team observes the complex interaction between skyrmion and quantum metric effects in TbMn₆Sn₆. Nanoscale magnetic whirlpools called skyrmions can cause nonlinear electrical events. Future theoretical and experimental studies will isolate and use each material's contributions to construct multipurpose gadgets. TbMn₆Sn₆'s magnetic structure allows both in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic tweaking, making it ideal for research. These materials are used in prototype devices to test their responses to strain and optical pumping.