Quantum disordered ground state in the triangular-lattice magnet NaRuO2

Ortiz, Brenden R.; Sarte, Paul M.; Avidor, Alon Hendler; Hay, Aurland; Kenney, Eric; Kolesnikov, Alexander I.; Pajerowski, Daniel M.; Aczel, Adam A.; Taddei, Keith M.; Brown, Craig M.; Wang, Chennan; Graf, Michael J.; Seshadri, Ram; Balents, Leon; Wilson, Stephen D.

doi:10.1038/s41567-023-02039-x

Title: Quantum disordered ground state in the triangular-lattice magnet NaRuO₂

Journal Article · 24 April 2023 · Nature Physics

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-023-02039-x · OSTI ID:2251648

Ortiz, Brenden R. ^[1]; Sarte, Paul M. ^[1];

^[1];

^[2];

^[3]; Pajerowski, Daniel M. ^[3];

^[3]; Taddei, Keith M. ^[3];

^[4]; Wang, Chennan ^[5];

^[2]; Seshadri, Ram ^[1]; Balents, Leon ^[1];

^[1]

Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)
Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA (United States)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States); Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States)
Paul Scherrer Inst. (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland). Lab. for Muon Spin Spectroscopy

It has long been hoped that spin liquid states might be observed in materials that realize the triangular-lattice Hubbard model. However, weak spin–orbit coupling and other small perturbations often induce conventional spin freezing or magnetic ordering. Sufficiently strong spin–orbit coupling, however, can renormalize the electronic wavefunction and induce anisotropic exchange interactions that promote magnetic frustration. Here we show that the cooperative interplay of spin–orbit coupling and correlation effects in the triangular-lattice magnet NaRuO₂ produces an inherently fluctuating magnetic ground state. Despite the presence of a charge gap, we find that low-temperature spin excitations generate a metal-like term in the specific heat and a continuum of excitations in neutron scattering, reminiscent of spin liquid states previously found in triangular-lattice organic magnets. Further cooling produces a crossover into a different, highly disordered spin state whose dynamic spin autocorrelation function reflects persistent fluctuations. Importantly, these findings establish NaRuO₂ as a cousin to organic, Heisenberg spin liquid compounds with a low-temperature crossover in quantum disorder.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS); Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; AC02-06CH11357; FG02-08ER46524; SC0017752; DMR-1906325

OSTI ID:: 2251648

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2345226

Journal Information:: Nature Physics, Vol. 19, Issue 7; ISSN 1745-2473

Publisher:: Nature Publishing Group (NPG)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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