Determination of the dynamic Young’s modulus of quantum materials in piezoactuator-driven uniaxial pressure cells using a low-frequency AC method

Caitlin I. O’Neil; Zhenhai Hu; Naoki Kikugawa; Dmitry A. Sokolov; Andrew P. Mackenzie; Hilary M. L. Noad; Elena Gati

Article Determination of the dynamic Young’s modulus of quantum materials in piezoactuator-driven uniaxial pressure cells using a low-frequency AC method

Caitlin I. O’Neil ; Zhenhai Hu ; Naoki Kikugawa (National Institute for Materials Science) ; Dmitry A. Sokolov ; Andrew P. Mackenzie ; Hilary M. L. Noad ; Elena Gati

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Caitlin I. O’Neil, Zhenhai Hu, Naoki Kikugawa, Dmitry A. Sokolov, Andrew P. Mackenzie, Hilary M. L. Noad, Elena Gati. Determination of the dynamic Young’s modulus of quantum materials in piezoactuator-driven uniaxial pressure cells using a low-frequency AC method. Review of Scientific Instruments. 2024, 95 (7), .

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We report on a new technique for measuring the dynamic Young’s modulus, E, of quantum materials at low temperatures as a function of static tuning strain, e, in piezoactuator-driven pressure cells. In addition to a static tuning of stress and strain, we apply a small-amplitude, finite-frequency a.c. (1 Hz < omega < 1000 Hz) uniaxial stress, σac, to the sample and measure the resulting a.c. strain, εac, using a capacitive sensor to obtain the associated modulus E. We demonstrate the performance of the new technique through proof-of-principle experiments on the unconventional superconductor Sr2RuO4, which is known for its rich temperature-strain phase diagram. In particular, we show that the magnitude of E, measured using this a.c. technique at low frequencies, exhibits a pronounced nonlinear elasticity, which is in very good agreement with previous Young’s modulus measurements on Sr2RuO4 under [100] strain using a d.c. method (Noad et al., Science 382, 447-450 (2023)). By combining the new a.c. Young’s modulus measurements with a.c. elastocaloric measurements in a single measurement, we demonstrate that these a.c. techniques are powerful in detecting small anomalies in the elastic properties of quantum materials. Finally, using the case of Sr2RuO4 as an example, we demonstrate how the imaginary component of the modulus can provide additional information about the nature of ordered phases.

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