Low-energy edge signatures of the Kitaev spin liquid

Zhang, Shang-Shun; Batista, Cristian D.; Halász, Gábor B.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.111.L161104

Low-energy edge signatures of the Kitaev spin liquid

Journal Article · Thu Apr 03 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Physical Review B

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.111.L161104· OSTI ID:2586940

Zhang, Shang-Shun ^[1]; ^[2]; ^[3]

Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Quantum Science Center (QSC)

Recent experimental work indicates that the Kitaev spin liquid may be realizable close to zero magnetic field in exfoliated 𝛼−RuCl₃ flakes, thus providing a more versatile setting for studying non-Abelian anyons. Here, we propose a robust nanoscale signature of the Kitaev spin liquid that results from its edge states and manifests in the low-energy spin dynamics. In particular, we highlight a singular peak in the dynamical spin structure factor of a zigzag edge whose energy scales linearly with only one component of the magnetic field. This sharp feature in the local spin dynamics directly reflects the bond-directional Kitaev spin interactions and, more generally, the projective symmetries of the Kitaev spin liquid. In conclusion, we demonstrate that our proposed signature survives in the presence of edge disorder as well as non-Kitaev interactions, and provide detailed guidelines for experimentally observing it using inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy and color-center relaxometry.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

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

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 2586940

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2545942

Journal Information:: Physical Review B, Journal Name: Physical Review B Journal Issue: 16 Vol. 111; ISSN 2469-9950; ISSN 2469-9969

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Related Subjects

Color centers
Edge states
Honeycomb lattice
Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy
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Magnetic insulators
Quantum spin liquid

Low-energy edge signatures of the Kitaev spin liquid

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