Field-Tailoring Quantum Materials: Magneto-Synthesis of Metastable Metallic States in a Spin-Orbit-Coupled Trimer Iridate

Abstract: We demonstrate that modest magnetic fields (a fraction of a Tesls), when applied during high-temperature crystal growth, can profoundly alter the structural and electronic ground state of a spin-orbit-coupled, antiferromagnetic trimer lattice. Using an iridate as a model system, we show that magneto-synthesis, a field-assisted synthesis approach, stabilizes a structurally compressed, metastable metallic phase that cannot be accessed through conventional synthesis routes. This field-tailored phase exhibits a shortened Ir-Ir bond distance, reduced lattice distortion, and suppressed magnetic order, culminating in a robust insulator-to-metal transition. Electrical resistivity of the field-tailored phase drops by up to four orders of magnitude, while the low-temperature specific heat reveals a substantial enhancement in the Sommerfeld coefficient, consistent with the emergence of a highly correlated metallic state. First-principles calculations confirm that the field-stabilized phase lies significantly above the ground state in energy, underscoring its metastable nature. These findings establish magneto-synthesis as a powerful new pathway for accessing non-equilibrium quantum phases in strongly correlated materials.