Pressure tuning of competing interactions on a honeycomb lattice

Piyush Sakrikar; Bin Shen; Eduardo H.T. Poldi; Faranak Bahrami; Xiaodong Hu; Eric M. Kenney; Qiaochu Wang; Kyle W. Fruhling; Chennan Wang; Ritu Gupta; Rustem Khasanov; Hubertus Luetkens; Stuart A. Calder; Adam A. Aczel; Gilberto Fabbris; Russell J. Hemley; Kemp W. Plumb; Ying Ran; Philipp Gegenwart; Alexander A. Tsirlin; Daniel Haskel; Michael J. Graf; Fazel Tafti

doi:10.1038/s41467-025-59897-7

Pressure tuning of competing interactions on a honeycomb lattice

Piyush Sakrikar, Bin Shen, Eduardo H.T. Poldi, Faranak Bahrami, Xiaodong Hu, Eric M. Kenney, Qiaochu Wang, Kyle W. Fruhling, Chennan Wang, Ritu Gupta, Rustem Khasanov, Hubertus Luetkens, Stuart A. Calder, Adam A. Aczel, Gilberto Fabbris, Russell J. Hemley, Kemp W. Plumb, Ying Ran, Philipp Gegenwart, Alexander A. TsirlinDaniel Haskel, Michael J. Graf, Fazel Tafti

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Exchange interactions are mediated via orbital overlaps across chemical bonds. Thus, modifying the bond angles by physical pressure or strain can tune the relative strength of competing interactions. Here we present a remarkable case of such tuning between the Heisenberg (J) and Kitaev (K) exchange, which respectively establish magnetically ordered and spin liquid phases on a honeycomb lattice. We observe a rapid suppression of the Néel temperature (T_N) with pressure in Ag₃LiRh₂O₆, a spin-1/2 honeycomb lattice with both J and K couplings. Using a combined analysis of x-ray data and first-principles calculations, we find that pressure modifies the bond angles in a way that increases the ∣K/J∣ ratio and thereby suppresses T_N. Consistent with this picture, we observe a spontaneous onset of muon spin relaxation (μSR) oscillations below T_N at low pressure, whereas in the high pressure phase, oscillations appear only when T < T_N/2. Unlike other candidate Kitaev materials, Ag₃LiRh₂O₆is tuned toward a quantum critical point by pressure while avoiding a structural dimerization in the relevant pressure range.

Original language	English
Article number	4712
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	16
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59897-7
State	Published - Dec 2025

Funding

The authors thank L. Hozoi for fruitful discussions. The work at Boston College was funded by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Physical Behavior of Materials under award number DE-SC0023124. The work in Augsburg was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation)\u2014TRR 360-492547816. Bin Shen acknowledges the financial support of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. K.W.P. and Q.W. were supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Grant No. DE-SC0021223. This work is based in part on experiments performed at the Swiss Muon Source S\u03BCS, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland. Neutron scattering experiments were carried out at the High Flux Isotope Reactor and Spallation Neutron Source, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Y.R. and X.H. acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DMR-1712128. E.P. and R.J.H. acknowledge support from DOE-SC (DE-SC0020340), DOE-NNSA (DE-NA0003975), and NSF (DMR-2118020 and DMR-2119308). Operations of HPCAT (Sector 16, APS, ANL) are supported by DOE-NNSA\u2019s Office of Experimental Sciences. Work at the Advanced Photon Source was supported by the US Department of Energy Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Award No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.

Access to Document

10.1038/s41467-025-59897-7

Cite this

Sakrikar, P., Shen, B., Poldi, E. H. T., Bahrami, F., Hu, X., Kenney, E. M., Wang, Q., Fruhling, K. W., Wang, C., Gupta, R., Khasanov, R., Luetkens, H., Calder, S. A., Aczel, A. A., Fabbris, G., Hemley, R. J., Plumb, K. W., Ran, Y., Gegenwart, P., ... Tafti, F. (2025). Pressure tuning of competing interactions on a honeycomb lattice. Nature Communications, 16(1), Article 4712. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59897-7

@article{3c41e1cb375940e4b2d69f2ccec868bf,

title = "Pressure tuning of competing interactions on a honeycomb lattice",

abstract = "Exchange interactions are mediated via orbital overlaps across chemical bonds. Thus, modifying the bond angles by physical pressure or strain can tune the relative strength of competing interactions. Here we present a remarkable case of such tuning between the Heisenberg (J) and Kitaev (K) exchange, which respectively establish magnetically ordered and spin liquid phases on a honeycomb lattice. We observe a rapid suppression of the N{\'e}el temperature (TN) with pressure in Ag3LiRh2O6, a spin-1/2 honeycomb lattice with both J and K couplings. Using a combined analysis of x-ray data and first-principles calculations, we find that pressure modifies the bond angles in a way that increases the ∣K/J∣ ratio and thereby suppresses TN. Consistent with this picture, we observe a spontaneous onset of muon spin relaxation (μSR) oscillations below TN at low pressure, whereas in the high pressure phase, oscillations appear only when T < TN/2. Unlike other candidate Kitaev materials, Ag3LiRh2O6is tuned toward a quantum critical point by pressure while avoiding a structural dimerization in the relevant pressure range.",

author = "Piyush Sakrikar and Bin Shen and Poldi, \{Eduardo H.T.\} and Faranak Bahrami and Xiaodong Hu and Kenney, \{Eric M.\} and Qiaochu Wang and Fruhling, \{Kyle W.\} and Chennan Wang and Ritu Gupta and Rustem Khasanov and Hubertus Luetkens and Calder, \{Stuart A.\} and Aczel, \{Adam A.\} and Gilberto Fabbris and Hemley, \{Russell J.\} and Plumb, \{Kemp W.\} and Ying Ran and Philipp Gegenwart and Tsirlin, \{Alexander A.\} and Daniel Haskel and Graf, \{Michael J.\} and Fazel Tafti",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2025.",

year = "2025",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1038/s41467-025-59897-7",

language = "English",

volume = "16",

journal = "Nature Communications",

issn = "2041-1723",

publisher = "Nature Research",

number = "1",

}

Sakrikar, P, Shen, B, Poldi, EHT, Bahrami, F, Hu, X, Kenney, EM, Wang, Q, Fruhling, KW, Wang, C, Gupta, R, Khasanov, R, Luetkens, H, Calder, SA , Aczel, AA, Fabbris, G, Hemley, RJ, Plumb, KW, Ran, Y, Gegenwart, P, Tsirlin, AA, Haskel, D, Graf, MJ & Tafti, F 2025, 'Pressure tuning of competing interactions on a honeycomb lattice', Nature Communications, vol. 16, no. 1, 4712. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59897-7

TY - JOUR

T1 - Pressure tuning of competing interactions on a honeycomb lattice

AU - Sakrikar, Piyush

AU - Shen, Bin

AU - Poldi, Eduardo H.T.

AU - Bahrami, Faranak

AU - Hu, Xiaodong

AU - Kenney, Eric M.

AU - Wang, Qiaochu

AU - Fruhling, Kyle W.

AU - Wang, Chennan

AU - Gupta, Ritu

AU - Khasanov, Rustem

AU - Luetkens, Hubertus

AU - Calder, Stuart A.

AU - Aczel, Adam A.

AU - Fabbris, Gilberto

AU - Hemley, Russell J.

AU - Plumb, Kemp W.

AU - Ran, Ying

AU - Gegenwart, Philipp

AU - Tsirlin, Alexander A.

AU - Haskel, Daniel

AU - Graf, Michael J.

AU - Tafti, Fazel

PY - 2025/12

Y1 - 2025/12

N2 - Exchange interactions are mediated via orbital overlaps across chemical bonds. Thus, modifying the bond angles by physical pressure or strain can tune the relative strength of competing interactions. Here we present a remarkable case of such tuning between the Heisenberg (J) and Kitaev (K) exchange, which respectively establish magnetically ordered and spin liquid phases on a honeycomb lattice. We observe a rapid suppression of the Néel temperature (TN) with pressure in Ag3LiRh2O6, a spin-1/2 honeycomb lattice with both J and K couplings. Using a combined analysis of x-ray data and first-principles calculations, we find that pressure modifies the bond angles in a way that increases the ∣K/J∣ ratio and thereby suppresses TN. Consistent with this picture, we observe a spontaneous onset of muon spin relaxation (μSR) oscillations below TN at low pressure, whereas in the high pressure phase, oscillations appear only when T < TN/2. Unlike other candidate Kitaev materials, Ag3LiRh2O6is tuned toward a quantum critical point by pressure while avoiding a structural dimerization in the relevant pressure range.

AB - Exchange interactions are mediated via orbital overlaps across chemical bonds. Thus, modifying the bond angles by physical pressure or strain can tune the relative strength of competing interactions. Here we present a remarkable case of such tuning between the Heisenberg (J) and Kitaev (K) exchange, which respectively establish magnetically ordered and spin liquid phases on a honeycomb lattice. We observe a rapid suppression of the Néel temperature (TN) with pressure in Ag3LiRh2O6, a spin-1/2 honeycomb lattice with both J and K couplings. Using a combined analysis of x-ray data and first-principles calculations, we find that pressure modifies the bond angles in a way that increases the ∣K/J∣ ratio and thereby suppresses TN. Consistent with this picture, we observe a spontaneous onset of muon spin relaxation (μSR) oscillations below TN at low pressure, whereas in the high pressure phase, oscillations appear only when T < TN/2. Unlike other candidate Kitaev materials, Ag3LiRh2O6is tuned toward a quantum critical point by pressure while avoiding a structural dimerization in the relevant pressure range.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105005598192&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-025-59897-7

DO - 10.1038/s41467-025-59897-7

M3 - Article

C2 - 40399257

AN - SCOPUS:105005598192

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 16

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 4712

ER -

Pressure tuning of competing interactions on a honeycomb lattice

Abstract

Funding

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this