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- Title
Identification of magnetic interactions and high-field quantum spin liquid in α-RuCl<sub>3</sub>.
- Authors
Li, Han; Zhang, Hao-Kai; Wang, Jiucai; Wu, Han-Qing; Gao, Yuan; Qu, Dai-Wei; Liu, Zheng-Xin; Gong, Shou-Shu; Li, Wei
- Abstract
The frustrated magnet α-RuCl3 constitutes a fascinating quantum material platform that harbors the intriguing Kitaev physics. However, a consensus on its intricate spin interactions and field-induced quantum phases has not been reached yet. Here we exploit multiple state-of-the-art many-body methods and determine the microscopic spin model that quantitatively explains major observations in α-RuCl3, including the zigzag order, double-peak specific heat, magnetic anisotropy, and the characteristic M-star dynamical spin structure, etc. According to our model simulations, the in-plane field drives the system into the polarized phase at about 7 T and a thermal fractionalization occurs at finite temperature, reconciling observations in different experiments. Under out-of-plane fields, the zigzag order is suppressed at 35 T, above which, and below a polarization field of 100 T level, there emerges a field-induced quantum spin liquid. The fractional entropy and algebraic low-temperature specific heat unveil the nature of a gapless spin liquid, which can be explored in high-field measurements on α-RuCl3. The nature of spin interactions and the field-induced quantum spin liquid phase in the Kitaev material α-RuCl3 have been debated. Here, using a combination of many-body techniques, the authors derive an effective spin model that explains the majority of experimental findings and predicts a new quantum spin liquid phase in strong out-of-plane magnetic field.
- Subjects
QUANTUM spin liquid; SPECIFIC heat; MAGNETIC anisotropy; MAGNETIC fields
- Publication
Nature Communications, 2021, Vol 12, p1
- ISSN
2041-1723
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s41467-021-24257-8