Polyamorphism gets a magnetic boost

Abstract

Four decades since the concept of polyamorphism was introduced by [L. S. Palatnik (1909–1994), Fiz. Nizk. Temp. 25, 400 (1909)], numerous investigations proved its presence in a broad variety of nonmagnetic short-range ordered materials, like structural, metallic, a-metallic, inorganic molecule, orientational, electron glasses, water, ice, carbons, and others. It was manifested by phase transitions between amorphous states as a function of the quench condition and under compression, mediated by long-wave fluctuations of an order parameter. There has been much recent discussion given to the phenomenon of polyamorphism where distinct, different states of amorphous liquids and solids are observed as a function of density. The outstanding contribution of the recently late [A. Sella, et al. (1956–2022), Nat. Mater. 21, 490 (2022)],2 in the field should be recognized here. Underlying this phenomenon is the possibility of a first-order liquid-liquid phase transition driven by the density and entropy differences between the two amorphous phases. Magnetic boost of multilayer graphene under pressure was also recently discovered. Their famous spin counterparts, such as spin liquid, spin ice, and spin glass have been less studied at this end despite numerous similarities, registered so far. Taking that in mind, for further polyamorphism platform development, we demonstrate the signatures of phase transition in spin glass, driven by a magnetic field, and eventually, a novel type of polyamorphism, the spin-glass one.