DOI: 10.1063/5.0357345 ISSN: 0021-9606

Quantum critical behavior in chains of hindered dipolar planar rotors

Wenxue Zhang, Muhammad Shaeer Moeed, Estevao De Oliveira, Hui Li, Pierre-Nicholas Roy

We study the ground-state properties of linear chains of dipolar planar rotors hindered by a sixfold on-site potential, a model motivated by water molecules confined in the hexagonal cavities of beryl. Using density matrix renormalization group calculations, we locate the quantum phase transition between the disordered and ferroelectrically ordered phases using the von Neumann entanglement entropy and the Binder ratio of the polarization. A sweep of the sixfold pinning strength shows that increasing hindrance shifts the critical dipolar coupling gc to smaller values. These results suggest that crystal-field hindrance can promote, rather than suppress, dipolar ordering. This work has implications for ferroelectricity and quantum-device tuning in confined molecular rotors.

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