Fractionalized excitations probed by ultrasound
Journal Article
·
· Physical Review. B
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) (Germany); Technische Universität Dresden (Germany)
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) (Germany)
- University of Augsburg (Germany); Moldova State University, Chisinau (Moldova, Republic of)
- Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon (Korea, Republic of)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- University of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States); University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
- Technical University Braunschweig (Germany)
- University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Technical University of Munich, Garching (Germany)
In this work, we study magnetoelastic interactions by means of ultrasound experiments in 𝛼−RuCl3 —a prototypical material for the Kitaev spin model on the honeycomb lattice, with a possible spin-liquid state featuring Majorana fermions and ℤ2-flux excitations. We present results of the temperature and in-plane magnetic-field dependence of the sound velocity and sound attenuation for several longitudinal and transverse phonon modes propagating along high-symmetry crystallographic directions. A comprehensive data analysis above the magnetically ordered state provides strong evidence of phonon scattering by Majorana fermions. This scattering depends sensitively on the value of the phonon velocities relative to the characteristic velocity of the low-energy fermionic excitations describing the spin dynamics of the underlying Kitaev magnet. Moreover, our data displays a distinct reduction of anisotropy of the sound attenuation, consistent with the presence of thermally excited ℤ2 visons. Here, we demonstrate the potential of phonon dynamics as a promising probe for uncovering fractionalized excitations in 𝛼−RuCl3 and provide new insights into the 𝐻−𝑇 phase diagram of this material.
- Research Organization:
- University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea; National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0018056
- OSTI ID:
- 2895865
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 2474097
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. B, Journal Name: Physical Review. B Journal Issue: 14 Vol. 109; ISSN 2469-9969; ISSN 2469-9950
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Spin-strain interactions under hydrostatic pressure in α-RuCl3
Phonon dynamics in the site-disordered Kitaev spin liquid
Temperature evolution of the phonon dynamics in the Kitaev spin liquid
Journal Article
·
Thu Oct 02 20:00:00 EDT 2025
· Physical Review. B
·
OSTI ID:2977291
Phonon dynamics in the site-disordered Kitaev spin liquid
Journal Article
·
Sun Sep 22 20:00:00 EDT 2024
· Physical Review. B
·
OSTI ID:3004458
Temperature evolution of the phonon dynamics in the Kitaev spin liquid
Journal Article
·
Mon Jun 07 20:00:00 EDT 2021
· Physical Review. B
·
OSTI ID:1852479