Gapless spin liquid in a square-kagome lattice antiferromagnet
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Date
2020-06-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer Nature Limited
Abstract
Observation of a quantum spin liquid (QSL) state is one of the most important goals in condensed-matter physics, as well as the development of new spintronic devices that support next-generation industries. The QSL in two dimensional quantum spin systems is expected to be due to geometrical magnetic frustration, and thus a kagome-based lattice is the most probable playground for QSL. Here, we report the first experimental results of the QSL state on a square-kagome quantum antiferromagnet, KCu6AlBiO4(SO4)5Cl. Comprehensive experimental studies via magnetic susceptibility, magnetisation, heat capacity, muon spin relaxation (μSR), and inelastic neutron scattering (INS) measurements reveal the formation of a gapless QSL at very low temperatures close to the ground state. The QSL behavior cannot be explained fully by a frustrated Heisenberg model with nearest-neighbor exchange interactions, providing a theoretical challenge to unveil the nature of the QSL state. © 2020 Springer Nature Limited
Description
Keywords
Quantum states, Spin, Matter, Liquids, Physics, Spin, Experiment results, Antiferromagnetism, Crystal lattices, Inelastic scattering, Heisenberg model
Citation
Fujihala, M., Morita, K., Mole, R., Mitsuda, S., Tohyama, T., Yano, S.-i., Yu, D., Sota, S., Kuwai, T., Koda, A., Okabe, H., Lee, H., Itoh, H., Hawai, T., Masuda, T., Sagayama, H., Matsuo, A., Kindo, K., Ohira-Kawamura, S., & Nakajima, K. (2020). Gapless spin liquid in a square-kagome lattice antiferromagnet. Nature Communications, 11(1), 3429. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17235-z