Study of the electronic nematic phase of Sr3Ru2O7 with precise control of the applied magnetic field vector

Abstract

We report a study of the magnetoresistivity of high purity Sr3Ru2O7, in the vicinity of its electronic nematic phase. By employing a triple-axis (9/1/1 T) vector magnet, we were able to precisely tune both the magnitude and direction of the in-plane component of the magnetic field (H-parallel to). We report the dependence of the resistively determined anisotropy on H-parallel to in the phase, as well as across the wider temperature-field region. Our measurements reveal a high-temperature anisotropy which mimics the behavior of fluctuations from the underlying quantum critical point, and suggest the existence of a more complicated phase diagram. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.87.161106