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Emergence of spin singlets with inhomogeneous gaps in the kagome lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnets Zn-barlowite and herbertsmithite

Journal Article · · Nature Physics
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [1]
  1. McMaster Univ., Hamilton, ON (Canada)
  2. Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)
  3. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science (SIMES); Stanford Univ., CA (United States)
  4. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science (SIMES)
+ Show Author Affiliations
The kagome Heisenberg antiferromagnet formed by frustrated spins arranged in a lattice of corner-sharing triangles is a prime candidate for hosting a quantum spin liquid (QSL) ground state consisting of entangled spin singlets. However, the existence of various competing states makes a convincing theoretical prediction of the QSL ground state difficult, calling for experimental clues from model materials. The kagome lattice materials Zn-barlowite (ZnCu3(OD)6FBr) and herbertsmithite (ZnCu3(OD)6Cl2) do not exhibit long-range order and are considered the best realizations of the kagome Heisenberg antiferromagnet known so far. In this study, we use 63Cu nuclear quadrupole resonance combined with the inverse Laplace transform to locally probe the inhomogeneity of delicate quantum ground states affected by disorder. We present direct evidence for the gradual emergence of spin singlets with spatially varying excitation gaps, but even at temperatures far below the super-exchange energy scale their fraction is limited to ~60% of the total spins. Theoretical models need to incorporate the role of disorder to account for the observed inhomogeneously gapped behaviour.
Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
1819280
Journal Information:
Nature Physics, Journal Name: Nature Physics Vol. 17; ISSN 1745-2473
Publisher:
Nature Publishing Group (NPG)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
magnetic properties and materials
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