Emergent exchange-driven giant magnetoelastic coupling in a correlated itinerant ferromagnet

Carolina A. Marques; Luke C. Rhodes; Weronika Osmolska; Harry  Lane; Izidor Benedičič; Masahiro Naritsuka; Siri A. Berge; Rosalba Fittipaldi; Mariateresa Lettieri; Antonio Vecchione; Peter  Wahl

doi:10.1038/s41567-025-02893-x

Emergent exchange-driven giant magnetoelastic coupling in a correlated itinerant ferromagnet

Carolina A. Marques^*
, Luke C. Rhodes
, Weronika Osmolska
, Harry Lane
, Izidor Benedičič
, Masahiro Naritsuka
, Siri A. Berge
, Rosalba Fittipaldi
, Mariateresa Lettieri
, Antonio Vecchione
, Peter Wahl^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The interaction between the electronic and structural degrees of freedom is central to several intriguing phenomena observed in condensed-matter physics. In magnetic materials, magnetic interactions couple to lattice degrees of freedom, resulting in magnetoelastic coupling, which is typically small and only detectable in macroscopic samples. Here we demonstrate a giant magnetoelastic coupling in the correlated itinerant ferromagnet Sr₄Ru₃O₁₀. We establish an effective control of magnetism in the surface layer and utilize it to probe the impact of magnetism on its electronic and structural properties. By using scanning tunnelling microscopy, we reveal subtle changes in the electronic structure dependent on ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic alignment between the surface and subsurface layers. We further determine the consequences of the exchange force on the relaxation of the surface layer, which exhibits giant magnetostriction. Our results provide a direct measurement of the impact of exchange interactions and correlations on structural details in a quantum material, revealing how electronic correlations result in a strong electron–lattice coupling.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1243-1249
Number of pages	9
Journal	Nature Physics
Volume	21
Issue number	8
Early online date	17 Jun 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-025-02893-x
Publication status	Published - Aug 2025

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Controlling and integrating 2D magnetism: Controlling and integrating 2D magnetism in epitaxial van der Waals heterostructures
King, P. (PI) & Wahl, P. (CoI)
EPSRC
1/08/23 → 31/07/26
Project: Standard
Stabilising magnetism in two dimensions: Stabilising magnetism in two dimensions
Wahl, P. (PI)
Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851
31/12/22 → 31/12/23
Project: Fellowship
STEM - Strain-tuning of Emergent: Strain-Tuning of Emergent states of Matter
Wahl, P. (PI) & Rost, A. (CoI)
EPSRC
1/08/18 → 31/07/21
Project: Standard

Exchange-driven giant magnetoelastic coupling in a correlated itinerant ferromagnet (dataset)
de Almeida Marques, C. (Creator), Rhodes, L. C. (Creator), osmolska, W. (Creator), Lane, H. (Creator), Benedičič, I. (Creator), Naritsuka, M. (Creator), Berge, S. A. (Creator), Fittipaldi, R. (Creator), lettieri, M. (Creator), Vecchione, A. (Creator) & Wahl, P. (Creator), University of St Andrews, 18 Jun 2025
DOI: 10.17630/be94879c-bfcc-460f-9061-764b1212d943
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Cite this

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title = "Emergent exchange-driven giant magnetoelastic coupling in a correlated itinerant ferromagnet",

abstract = "The interaction between the electronic and structural degrees of freedom is central to several intriguing phenomena observed in condensed-matter physics. In magnetic materials, magnetic interactions couple to lattice degrees of freedom, resulting in magnetoelastic coupling, which is typically small and only detectable in macroscopic samples. Here we demonstrate a giant magnetoelastic coupling in the correlated itinerant ferromagnet Sr4Ru3O10. We establish an effective control of magnetism in the surface layer and utilize it to probe the impact of magnetism on its electronic and structural properties. By using scanning tunnelling microscopy, we reveal subtle changes in the electronic structure dependent on ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic alignment between the surface and subsurface layers. We further determine the consequences of the exchange force on the relaxation of the surface layer, which exhibits giant magnetostriction. Our results provide a direct measurement of the impact of exchange interactions and correlations on structural details in a quantum material, revealing how electronic correlations result in a strong electron–lattice coupling.",

author = "Marques, \{Carolina A.\} and Rhodes, \{Luke C.\} and Weronika Osmolska and Harry Lane and Izidor Benedi{\v c}i{\v c} and Masahiro Naritsuka and Berge, \{Siri A.\} and Rosalba Fittipaldi and Mariateresa Lettieri and Antonio Vecchione and Peter Wahl",

note = "Funding: M.N. and P.W. gratefully acknowledge funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council through EP/R031924/1, EP/S005005/1 and EP/X015556/1 and from the Leverhulme Trust through Research Project grant RPG-2022-315, I.B. through the International Max Planck Research School for Chemistry and Physics of Quantum Materials, and H.L. from a fellowship from the Royal Commission of the Exhibition of 1851. C.A.M. was supported by the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students for the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship (ESKAS no. 2023.0017) for the academic year 2023–24. R.F., M.L. and A.V. thank the EU{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 964398 (SUPERGATE). This work used computational resources of the Cirrus UK National Tier-2 HPC Service at EPCC funded by the University of Edinburgh and EPSRC (EP/P020267/1) and of the High-Performance Computing cluster Kennedy of the University of St Andrews.",

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doi = "10.1038/s41567-025-02893-x",

language = "English",

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journal = "Nature Physics",

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T1 - Emergent exchange-driven giant magnetoelastic coupling in a correlated itinerant ferromagnet

AU - Marques, Carolina A.

AU - Rhodes, Luke C.

AU - Osmolska, Weronika

AU - Lane, Harry

AU - Benedičič, Izidor

AU - Naritsuka, Masahiro

AU - Berge, Siri A.

AU - Fittipaldi, Rosalba

AU - Lettieri, Mariateresa

AU - Vecchione, Antonio

AU - Wahl, Peter

N1 - Funding: M.N. and P.W. gratefully acknowledge funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council through EP/R031924/1, EP/S005005/1 and EP/X015556/1 and from the Leverhulme Trust through Research Project grant RPG-2022-315, I.B. through the International Max Planck Research School for Chemistry and Physics of Quantum Materials, and H.L. from a fellowship from the Royal Commission of the Exhibition of 1851. C.A.M. was supported by the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students for the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship (ESKAS no. 2023.0017) for the academic year 2023–24. R.F., M.L. and A.V. thank the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 964398 (SUPERGATE). This work used computational resources of the Cirrus UK National Tier-2 HPC Service at EPCC funded by the University of Edinburgh and EPSRC (EP/P020267/1) and of the High-Performance Computing cluster Kennedy of the University of St Andrews.

PY - 2025/8

Y1 - 2025/8

N2 - The interaction between the electronic and structural degrees of freedom is central to several intriguing phenomena observed in condensed-matter physics. In magnetic materials, magnetic interactions couple to lattice degrees of freedom, resulting in magnetoelastic coupling, which is typically small and only detectable in macroscopic samples. Here we demonstrate a giant magnetoelastic coupling in the correlated itinerant ferromagnet Sr4Ru3O10. We establish an effective control of magnetism in the surface layer and utilize it to probe the impact of magnetism on its electronic and structural properties. By using scanning tunnelling microscopy, we reveal subtle changes in the electronic structure dependent on ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic alignment between the surface and subsurface layers. We further determine the consequences of the exchange force on the relaxation of the surface layer, which exhibits giant magnetostriction. Our results provide a direct measurement of the impact of exchange interactions and correlations on structural details in a quantum material, revealing how electronic correlations result in a strong electron–lattice coupling.

AB - The interaction between the electronic and structural degrees of freedom is central to several intriguing phenomena observed in condensed-matter physics. In magnetic materials, magnetic interactions couple to lattice degrees of freedom, resulting in magnetoelastic coupling, which is typically small and only detectable in macroscopic samples. Here we demonstrate a giant magnetoelastic coupling in the correlated itinerant ferromagnet Sr4Ru3O10. We establish an effective control of magnetism in the surface layer and utilize it to probe the impact of magnetism on its electronic and structural properties. By using scanning tunnelling microscopy, we reveal subtle changes in the electronic structure dependent on ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic alignment between the surface and subsurface layers. We further determine the consequences of the exchange force on the relaxation of the surface layer, which exhibits giant magnetostriction. Our results provide a direct measurement of the impact of exchange interactions and correlations on structural details in a quantum material, revealing how electronic correlations result in a strong electron–lattice coupling.

U2 - 10.1038/s41567-025-02893-x

DO - 10.1038/s41567-025-02893-x

M3 - Article

SN - 1745-2473

VL - 21

SP - 1243

EP - 1249

JO - Nature Physics

JF - Nature Physics

IS - 8

ER -

Emergent exchange-driven giant magnetoelastic coupling in a correlated itinerant ferromagnet

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Projects

Controlling and integrating 2D magnetism: Controlling and integrating 2D magnetism in epitaxial van der Waals heterostructures

Stabilising magnetism in two dimensions: Stabilising magnetism in two dimensions

STEM - Strain-tuning of Emergent: Strain-Tuning of Emergent states of Matter

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Exchange-driven giant magnetoelastic coupling in a correlated itinerant ferromagnet (dataset)

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