Back to Search Start Over

Spinon Fermi Surface Spin Liquid in a Triangular Lattice Antiferromagnet NaYbSe_{2}

Authors :
Peng-Ling Dai
Gaoning Zhang
Yaofeng Xie
Chunruo Duan
Yonghao Gao
Zihao Zhu
Erxi Feng
Zhen Tao
Chien-Lung Huang
Huibo Cao
Andrey Podlesnyak
Garrett E. Granroth
Michelle S. Everett
Joerg C. Neuefeind
David Voneshen
Shun Wang
Guotai Tan
Emilia Morosan
Xia Wang
Hai-Qing Lin
Lei Shu
Gang Chen
Yanfeng Guo
Xingye Lu
Pengcheng Dai
Source :
Physical Review X, Vol 11, Iss 2, p 021044 (2021)
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
American Physical Society, 2021.

Abstract

Triangular lattice of rare-earth ions with interacting effective spin-1/2 local moments is an ideal platform to explore the physics of quantum spin liquids (QSLs) in the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling, crystal electric fields, and geometrical frustration. The Yb delafossites, NaYbCh_{2} (Ch=O, S, Se) with Yb ions forming a perfect triangular lattice, have been suggested to be candidates for QSLs. Previous thermodynamics, nuclear magnetic resonance, and powder-sample neutron scattering measurements on NaYbCh_{2} have supported the suggestion of the QSL ground states. The key signature of a QSL, the spin excitation continuum, arising from the spin quantum number fractionalization, has not been observed. Here we perform both elastic and inelastic neutron scattering measurements as well as detailed thermodynamic measurements on high-quality single-crystal NaYbSe_{2} samples to confirm the absence of long-range magnetic order down to 40 mK, and further reveal a clear signature of magnetic excitation continuum extending from 0.1 to 2.5 meV. The comparison between the structure of the magnetic excitation spectra and the theoretical expectation from the spinon continuum suggests that the ground state of NaYbSe_{2} is a QSL with a spinon Fermi surface.

Subjects

Subjects :
Physics
QC1-999

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
21603308
Volume :
11
Issue :
2
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Physical Review X
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.3375054548ea485397fcc0b88b086919
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.11.021044