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The PbCuTe₂O₆ crystal resembles a three-dimensional web of copper, tellurium, and oxygen. Inside, the magnetic moments, tiny arrows tied to electron spins, are so entangled that they can't settle into an orderly arrangement even near absolute zero. This state is called a quantum spin liquid: the magnetic arrows constantly fluctuate but never freeze.

Physicists led by Johannes Kepler (no, not that one, but researchers from the Institute for Complex Systems Physics) applied directional pressure along the [110] axis — up to 37.7 megapascals, about three times less than the pressure in a bicycle tire. This gentle squeeze altered the distances between atoms, slightly skewing the web of magnetic bonds. Above 10.8 MPa, magnetic fluctuations sharply increased, and internal fields became more broadly distributed. It's like a taut fishing net starting to sway more vigorously in a crosswind, even though the mesh remains intact.

No conventional magnetic order, where all arrows align in one direction, emerged. Instead, the system entered a new state: slow collective oscillations coexisting with nearly static correlations. In other words, the magnetic web became stiffer in some places but retained mobility in others. This opens a clean way to manipulate entangled magnetic systems without introducing chemical impurities, simply by slightly altering the crystal's geometry.

Original abstract

as written by the authors arXiv:2608.04782v1

We report muon spin relaxation/rotation ($$\mu$$SR) measurements of the candidate three-dimensional (3D) quantum spin liquid (QSL) PbCuTe$$_2$$O$$_6$$, hosting $$S=1/2$$ moments, under controlled in situ [110] uniaxial compression up to $$\sigma_{[110]}=37.7$$~MPa. A small directional lattice perturbation significantly modifies the local magnetic response, while above $$\sigma_{\rm cr}\sim10.8$$\,MPa the relaxation rates are strongly enhanced and the internal-field distribution is substantially broadened. These changes occur along with the local crystalline symmetry breaking. While, no evidence for conventional static long-range magnetic order is observed, the compression drives the system towards a structurally modified and strongly correlated state in which enhanced quasi-static correlations coexist with persistent slow spin dynamics. This work demonstrates a clean and symmetry-selective route to control frustrated exchange landscape and access hidden magnetic instabilities in a 3D QSL candidate opening up the possibilities to tune other correlated systems where intrinsic coupling between magnetic and lattice degrees of freedom are relevant.