Spin-strain interactions under hydrostatic pressure in α-RuCl3

Hauspurg, A.; Singh, Susmita; Yanagisawa, T.; Tsurkan, V.; Wosnitza, J.; Brenig, Wolfram; Perkins, Natalia B.; Zherlitsyn, S.

doi:10.1103/v9zy-rrf7

Spin-strain interactions under hydrostatic pressure in α-RuCl₃

Journal Article · Fri Oct 03 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Physical Review. B

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/v9zy-rrf7· OSTI ID:2977291

Hauspurg, A. ^[1]; Singh, Susmita ^[2]; ^[3]; ^[4]; Wosnitza, J. ^[1]; ^[5]; ^[6]; ^[7]

Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden (Germany); TU Dresden (Germany)
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
Hokkaido University, Sapporo (Japan)
University of Augsburg (Germany); Moldova State University, Chisinau (Moldova)
Technical University Braunschweig (Germany)
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Technical University of Munich, Garching (Germany)
Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Dresden (Germany)

We investigate the effects of hydrostatic pressure on 𝛼−RuCl₃, a prototypical material for the Kitaev spin model on a honeycomb lattice with a possible spin-liquid ground state. Using ultrasound measurements at pressures up to 1.16 GPa, we reveal significant modifications of the acoustic properties and the 𝐻−𝑇 phase diagram of this material. Hydrostatic pressure suppresses the three-dimensional magnetic order and induces a dimerization transition at higher pressures. At low pressures, the sound attenuation exhibits a linear temperature dependence, while above 0.28 GPa, it becomes nearly temperature independent, suggesting a shift in the phonon scattering regime dominated by Majorana fermions. These findings provide new insights into spin-strain interactions in Kitaev magnets and deliver a detailed characterization of the 𝐻−𝑇 phase diagram of 𝛼−RuCl₃ under hydrostatic pressure.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0018056

OSTI ID:: 2977291

Journal Information:: Physical Review. B, Journal Name: Physical Review. B Journal Issue: 13 Vol. 112; ISSN 2469-9969; ISSN 2469-9950

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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