Abstract
In α-RuCl3, an external magnetic field applied within the honeycomb plane can induce a transition from a magnetically ordered state to a disordered state that is potentially related to the Kitaev quantum spin liquid. In zero field, single crystals with minimal stacking faults display a low-temperature state with in-plane zigzag antiferromagnetic order and a three-layer periodicity in the direction perpendicular to the honeycomb planes. Here, we present angle-dependent magnetization, ac susceptibility, and thermal transport data that demonstrate the presence of an additional intermediate-field ordered state at fields below the transition to the disordered phase. Neutron-diffraction results show that the magnetic structure in this phase is characterized by a six-layer periodicity in the direction perpendicular to the honeycomb planes. Theoretically, the intermediate ordered phase can be accounted for by including spin-anisotropic couplings between the layers in a three-dimensional spin model. Together, this demonstrates the importance of interlayer exchange interactions in α-RuCl3.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 174417 |
| Journal | Physical Review B |
| Volume | 103 |
| Issue number | 17 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 13 2021 |
Funding
We thank E. C. Andrade, B. Büchner, P. M. Cônsoli, S. Koch, S. Rachel, and A. U. B. Wolter for illuminating discussions and collaborations on related work. This research used resources at the Spallation Neutron Source, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. C.B., A.B., Y.H.L., and S.E.N. were supported by the Division of Scientific User Facilities, Basic Energy Sciences US DOE; P.L.K. and D.G.M. by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's EPiQS Initiative through Grant GBMF4416; and J.Q.Y. by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. A.B. and S.E.N. acknowledge support by the Quantum Science Center (QSC), a National Quantum Information Science Research Center of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). L.J. and M.V. acknowledge financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through SFB 1143 (project id 247310070) and the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence on Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter – ct.qmat (EXC 2147, project id 390858490). The work of L.J. is funded by the DFG through the Emmy Noether program (JA2306/4-1, project id 411750675).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Basic Energy Sciences US DOE | |
| National Quantum Information Science Research Center | |
| Quantum Science Center | |
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation | GBMF4416 |
| Office of Science | |
| Basic Energy Sciences | |
| Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering | |
| Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft | EXC 2147, 411750675, JA2306/4-1, 247310070, 390858490, SFB 1143 |