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The Kitaev quantum spin liquid (KQSL) is an exotic emergent state of matter exhibiting Majorana fermion and gauge flux excitations. The magnetic insulator α-RuCl 3 is thought to realize a proximate KQSL. We used neutron scattering on single crystals of α-RuCl 3 to reconstruct dynamical correlations in energy-momentum space. We discovered highly unusual signals, including a column of scattering over a large energy interval around the Brillouin zone center, which is very stable with temperature. This finding is consistent with scattering from the Majorana excitations of a KQSL. Other, more delicate experimental features can be transparently associated with perturbations to an ideal model. Our results encourage further study of this prototypical material and may open a window into investigating emergent magnetic Majorana fermions in correlated materials., (Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.)

Strong electron interactions can drive metallic systems toward a variety of well-known symmetry-broken phases, but the instabilities of correlated metals with strong spin-orbit coupling have only recently begun to be explored. We uncovered a multipolar nematic phase of matter in the metallic pyrochlore Cd 2 Re 2 O 7 using spatially resolved second-harmonic optical anisotropy measurements. Like previously discovered electronic nematic phases, this multipolar phase spontaneously breaks rotational symmetry while preserving translational invariance. However, it has the distinguishing property of being odd under spatial inversion, which is allowed only in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. By examining the critical behavior of the multipolar nematic order parameter, we show that it drives the thermal phase transition near 200 kelvin in Cd 2 Re 2 O 7 and induces a parity-breaking lattice distortion as a secondary order., (Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.)

Heterostructures comprising different monolayer semiconductors provide an attractive setting for fundamental science and device technologies, such as in the emerging field of valleytronics. We realized valley-specific interlayer excitons in monolayer WSe2-MoSe2 vertical heterostructures. We created interlayer exciton spin-valley polarization by means of circularly polarized optical pumping and determined a valley lifetime of 40 nanoseconds. This long-lived polarization enables the visualization of the expansion of a valley-polarized exciton cloud over several micrometers. The spatial pattern of the polarization evolves into a ring with increasing exciton density, a manifestation of valley exciton exchange interactions. Our work introduces van der Waals heterostructures as a promising platform from which to study valley exciton physics., (Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.)