Vacancy Spectroscopy of Non-Abelian Kitaev Spin Liquids

Kao, Wen-Han; Perkins, Natalia B.; Halász, Gábor B.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.132.136503

Vacancy Spectroscopy of Non-Abelian Kitaev Spin Liquids

Journal Article · Fri Mar 29 00:00:00 EDT 2024 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.132.136503· OSTI ID:2373007

^[1]; ^[1]; ^[2]

Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Quantum Science Center (QSC)

Spin vacancies in the non-Abelian Kitaev spin liquid are known to harbor Majorana zero modes, potentially enabling topological quantum computing at elevated temperatures. Here, we study the spectroscopic signatures of such Majorana zero modes in a scanning tunneling setup where a non-Abelian Kitaev spin liquid with a finite density of spin vacancies forms a tunneling barrier between a tip and a substrate. In this study, our key result is a well-defined peak close to zero bias voltage in the derivative of the tunneling conductance whose voltage and intensity both increase with the density of vacancies. This “quasi-zero-voltage peak” is identified as the closest analog of the zero-voltage peak observed in topological superconductors that additionally reflects the fractionalized nature of spin-liquid-based Majorana zero modes. We further highlight a single-fermion Van Hove singularity at a higher voltage that reveals the energy scale of the emergent Majorana fermions in the Kitaev spin liquid. Our proposed signatures are within reach of current experiments on the candidate material α-RuCl₃.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 2373007

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2331311

Journal Information:: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 13 Vol. 132; ISSN 0031-9007

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (62)

Fault-tolerant quantum computation by anyons Kitaev, A. Yu. Annals of Physics, Vol. 303, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-4916(02)00018-0	journal	January 2003
Anyons in an exactly solved model and beyond Kitaev, Alexei Annals of Physics, Vol. 321, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aop.2005.10.005	journal	January 2006
Disorder upon disorder: Localization effects in the Kitaev spin liquid Kao, Wen-Han; Perkins, Natalia B. Annals of Physics https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aop.2021.168506	journal	May 2021
Exponential protection of zero modes in Majorana islands Albrecht, S. M.; Higginbotham, A. P.; Madsen, M. Nature, Vol. 531, Issue 7593 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature17162	journal	March 2016
Proximate Kitaev quantum spin liquid behaviour in a honeycomb magnet Banerjee, A.; Bridges, C. A.; Yan, J. -Q. Nature Materials, Vol. 15, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4604	journal	April 2016
Majorana fermions in the Kitaev quantum spin system α-RuCl3 Do, Seung-Hwan; Park, Sang-Youn; Yoshitake, Junki Nature Physics, Vol. 13, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys4264	journal	September 2017
Majorana zero modes and topological quantum computation Sarma, Sankar Das; Freedman, Michael; Nayak, Chetan npj Quantum Information, Vol. 1, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/npjqi.2015.1	journal	October 2015
Excitations in the field-induced quantum spin liquid state of α-RuCl3 Banerjee, Arnab; Lampen-Kelley, Paula; Knolle, Johannes npj Quantum Materials, Vol. 3, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-018-0079-2	journal	February 2018
Planar thermal Hall effect of topological bosons in the Kitaev magnet α-RuCl3 Czajka, Peter; Gao, Tong; Hirschberger, Max Nature Materials, Vol. 22, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01397-w	journal	November 2022
Magnetic anisotropy reversal driven by structural symmetry-breaking in monolayer α-RuCl3 Yang, Bowen; Goh, Yin Min; Sung, Suk Hyun Nature Materials https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01401-3	journal	November 2022
Structural tweaking of 2D quantum magnetism Miao, Hu; Halász, Gábor B. Nature Materials, Vol. 22, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-022-01445-5	journal	December 2022
Observation of two types of fractional excitation in the Kitaev honeycomb magnet Janša, Nejc; Zorko, Andrej; Gomilšek, Matjaž Nature Physics, Vol. 14, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0129-5	journal	May 2018
Oscillations of the thermal conductivity in the spin-liquid state of α-RuCl3 Czajka, Peter; Gao, Tong; Hirschberger, Max Nature Physics, Vol. 17, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-021-01243-x	journal	May 2021
Robustness of the thermal Hall effect close to half-quantization in α-RuCl3 Bruin, J. A. N.; Claus, R. R.; Matsumoto, Y. Nature Physics, Vol. 18, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-021-01501-y	journal	February 2022
Majorana quantization and half-integer thermal quantum Hall effect in a Kitaev spin liquid Kasahara, Y.; Ohnishi, T.; Mizukami, Y. Nature, Vol. 559, Issue 7713 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0274-0	journal	July 2018
Unpaired Majorana fermions in quantum wires Kitaev, A. Yu Physics-Uspekhi, Vol. 44, Issue 10S https://doi.org/10.1070/1063-7869/44/10S/S29	journal	October 2001
New directions in the pursuit of Majorana fermions in solid state systems Alicea, Jason Reports on Progress in Physics, Vol. 75, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1088/0034-4885/75/7/076501	journal	June 2012
Models and materials for generalized Kitaev magnetism Winter, Stephen M.; Tsirlin, Alexander A.; Daghofer, Maria Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, Vol. 29, Issue 49 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-648X/aa8cf5	journal	November 2017
Finite field regime for a quantum spin liquid in α − RuCl 3 Balz, Christian; Lampen-Kelley, Paula; Banerjee, Arnab Physical Review B, Vol. 100, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.100.060405	journal	August 2019
Local probes for charge-neutral edge states in two-dimensional quantum magnets Feldmeier, Johannes; Natori, Willian; Knap, Michael Physical Review B, Vol. 102, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.102.134423	journal	October 2020
Sample dependence of half-integer quantized thermal Hall effect in the Kitaev spin-liquid candidate α − RuCl 3 Yamashita, M.; Gouchi, J.; Uwatoko, Y. Physical Review B, Vol. 102, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.102.220404	journal	December 2020
Scanning tunneling spectroscopy of Majorana zero modes in a Kitaev spin liquid Bauer, Tim; Freitas, Lucas R. D.; Pereira, Rodrigo G. Physical Review B, Vol. 107, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.107.054432	journal	February 2023
Dynamics of vacancy-induced modes in the non-Abelian Kitaev spin liquid Kao, Wen-Han; Halász, Gábor B.; Perkins, Natalia B. Physical Review B, Vol. 109, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.109.125150	journal	March 2024
Paired states of fermions in two dimensions with breaking of parity and time-reversal symmetries and the fractional quantum Hall effect Read, N.; Green, Dmitry Physical Review B, Vol. 61, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.61.10267	journal	April 2000
Site dilution in the Kitaev honeycomb model Willans, A. J.; Chalker, J. T.; Moessner, R. Physical Review B, Vol. 84, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.115146	journal	September 2011
α − RuCl 3 : A spin-orbit assisted Mott insulator on a honeycomb lattice Plumb, K. W.; Clancy, J. P.; Sandilands, L. J. Physical Review B, Vol. 90, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.041112	journal	July 2014
Successive magnetic phase transitions in α − RuCl 3 : XY-like frustrated magnet on the honeycomb lattice Kubota, Yumi; Tanaka, Hidekazu; Ono, Toshio Physical Review B, Vol. 91, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.91.094422	journal	March 2015
Magnetic order in α − RuCl 3 : A honeycomb-lattice quantum magnet with strong spin-orbit coupling Sears, J. A.; Songvilay, M.; Plumb, K. W. Physical Review B, Vol. 91, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.91.144420	journal	April 2015
Anisotropic Ru 3 + 4 d 5 magnetism in the α − RuCl 3 honeycomb system: Susceptibility, specific heat, and zero-field NMR Majumder, M.; Schmidt, M.; Rosner, H. Physical Review B, Vol. 91, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.91.180401	journal	May 2015
Physical states and finite-size effects in Kitaev's honeycomb model: Bond disorder, spin excitations, and NMR line shape Zschocke, Fabian; Vojta, Matthias Physical Review B, Vol. 92, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.92.014403	journal	July 2015
Dynamics of fractionalization in quantum spin liquids Knolle, J.; Kovrizhin, D. L.; Chalker, J. T. Physical Review B, Vol. 92, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.92.115127	journal	September 2015
Monoclinic crystal structure of α − RuCl 3 and the zigzag antiferromagnetic ground state Johnson, R. D.; Williams, S. C.; Haghighirad, A. A. Physical Review B, Vol. 92, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.92.235119	journal	December 2015
Spin-orbit excitations and electronic structure of the putative Kitaev magnet α − RuCl 3 Sandilands, Luke J.; Tian, Yao; Reijnders, Anjan A. Physical Review B, Vol. 93, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.075144	journal	February 2016
Phase diagram of α − RuCl 3 in an in-plane magnetic field Sears, J. A.; Zhao, Y.; Xu, Z. Physical Review B, Vol. 95, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.95.180411	journal	May 2017
Field-induced quantum criticality in the Kitaev system α − RuCl 3 Wolter, A. U. B.; Corredor, L. T.; Janssen, L. Physical Review B, Vol. 96, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.96.041405	journal	July 2017
Short-range quasistatic order and critical spin correlations in α − Ru 1 − x Ir x Cl 3 Do, Seung-Hwan; Lee, W. -J.; Lee, S. Physical Review B, Vol. 98, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.98.014407	journal	July 2018
Thermodynamic evidence of fractionalized excitations in α − RuC l 3 Widmann, S.; Tsurkan, V.; Prishchenko, D. A. Physical Review B, Vol. 99, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.99.094415	journal	March 2019
Disorder in a Quantum Spin Liquid: Flux Binding and Local Moment Formation Willans, A. J.; Chalker, J. T.; Moessner, R. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 104, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.237203	journal	June 2010
Majorana Fermions and a Topological Phase Transition in Semiconductor-Superconductor Heterostructures Lutchyn, Roman M.; Sau, Jay D.; Das Sarma, S. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.077001	journal	August 2010
Helical Liquids and Majorana Bound States in Quantum Wires Oreg, Yuval; Refael, Gil; von Oppen, Felix Physical Review Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.177002	journal	October 2010
Dynamics of a Two-Dimensional Quantum Spin Liquid: Signatures of Emergent Majorana Fermions and Fluxes Knolle, J.; Kovrizhin, D. L.; Chalker, J. T. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 112, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.207203	journal	May 2014
Scattering Continuum and Possible Fractionalized Excitations in α − RuCl 3 Sandilands, Luke J.; Tian, Yao; Plumb, Kemp W. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 114, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.147201	journal	April 2015
Anomalous Thermal Conductivity and Magnetic Torque Response in the Honeycomb Magnet α − RuCl 3 Leahy, Ian A.; Pocs, Christopher A.; Siegfried, Peter E. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 118, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.187203	journal	May 2017
Evidence for a Field-Induced Quantum Spin Liquid in α - RuCl 3 Baek, S. -H.; Do, S. -H.; Choi, K. -Y. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 119, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.037201	journal	July 2017
Destabilization of Magnetic Order in a Dilute Kitaev Spin Liquid Candidate Lampen-Kelley, P.; Banerjee, A.; Aczel, A. A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 119, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.237203	journal	December 2017
Unusual Phonon Heat Transport in α − RuCl 3 : Strong Spin-Phonon Scattering and Field-Induced Spin Gap Hentrich, Richard; Wolter, Anja U. B.; Zotos, Xenophon Physical Review Letters, Vol. 120, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.117204	journal	March 2018
Randomly Hopping Majorana Fermions in the Diluted Kitaev System α - Ru 0.8 Ir 0.2 Cl 3 Do, Seung-Hwan; Lee, C. H.; Kihara, T. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 124, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.047204	journal	January 2020
Electrical Access to Ising Anyons in Kitaev Spin Liquids Pereira, Rodrigo G.; Egger, Reinhold Physical Review Letters, Vol. 125, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.227202	journal	November 2020
Tunneling Spectroscopy of Quantum Spin Liquids König, Elio J.; Randeria, Mallika T.; Jäck, Berthold Physical Review Letters, Vol. 125, Issue 26 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.267206	journal	December 2020
Scanning Tunneling Microscopy as a Single Majorana Detector of Kitaev’s Chiral Spin Liquid Udagawa, Masafumi; Takayoshi, Shintaro; Oka, Takashi Physical Review Letters, Vol. 126, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.127201	journal	March 2021
Disorder, Low-Energy Excitations, and Topology in the Kitaev Spin Liquid Dantas, Vitor; Andrade, Eric C. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 129, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.037204	journal	July 2022
Nonlocal Spin Correlation as a Signature of Ising Anyons Trapped in Vacancies of the Kitaev Spin Liquid Takahashi, Masahiro O.; Yamada, Masahiko G.; Udagawa, Masafumi Physical Review Letters, Vol. 131, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.236701	journal	December 2023
Flux Phase of the Half-Filled Band Lieb, Elliott H. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 73, Issue 16 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.73.2158	journal	October 1994
Non-Abelian Statistics of Half-Quantum Vortices in p -Wave Superconductors Ivanov, D. A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 86, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.268	journal	January 2001
Exact Results for Spin Dynamics and Fractionalization in the Kitaev Model Baskaran, G.; Mandal, Saptarshi; Shankar, R. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 98, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.247201	journal	June 2007
Rethinking α − RuCl 3 Maksimov, P. A.; Chernyshev, A. L. Physical Review Research, Vol. 2, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033011	journal	July 2020
Vacancy-Induced Low-Energy Density of States in the Kitaev Spin Liquid Kao, Wen-Han; Knolle, Johannes; Halász, Gábor B. Physical Review X, Vol. 11, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.11.011034	journal	February 2021
Defect-Induced Low-Energy Majorana Excitations in the Kitaev Magnet α−RuCl3 Imamura, K.; Mizukami, Y.; Tanaka, O. Physical Review X, Vol. 14, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.14.011045	journal	March 2024
Non-Abelian anyons and topological quantum computation Nayak, Chetan; Simon, Steven H.; Stern, Ady Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 80, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.80.1083	journal	September 2008
Neutron scattering in the proximate quantum spin liquid α-RuCl ₃ Banerjee, Arnab; Yan, Jiaqiang; Knolle, Johannes Science, Vol. 356, Issue 6342 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aah6015	journal	June 2017
Half-integer quantized anomalous thermal Hall effect in the Kitaev material candidate α-RuCl ₃ Yokoi, T.; Ma, S.; Kasahara, Y. Science, Vol. 373, Issue 6554 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay5551	journal	July 2021
Fermion zero modes on vortices in chiral superconductors Volovik, G. E. Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics Letters, Vol. 70, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1134/1.568223	journal	November 1999

Figures / Tables (2)

FIG. 1(p. 2)

FIG. 2(p. 4)

Similar Records

Dynamics of vacancy-induced modes in the non-Abelian Kitaev spin liquid

Journal Article · Thu Mar 28 20:00:00 EDT 2024 · Physical Review. B · OSTI ID:2372994

Low-energy edge signatures of the Kitaev spin liquid

Journal Article · Wed Apr 02 20:00:00 EDT 2025 · Physical Review B · OSTI ID:2586940

Robustness of Vacancy-Bound Non-Abelian Anyons in the Kitaev Model in a Magnetic Field

Journal Article · Wed Aug 27 20:00:00 EDT 2025 · Physical Review Letters · OSTI ID:2586912

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY

Vacancy Spectroscopy of Non-Abelian Kitaev Spin Liquids

Citation Formats

References (62)

Figures / Tables (2)

Similar Records

Related Subjects