Abstract
We present high-field electron spin resonance (ESR) studies of the honeycomb-lattice material α-RuCl3, a prime candidate to exhibit Kitaev physics. Two modes of antiferromagnetic resonance were detected in the zigzag ordered phase, with magnetic field applied in the ab plane. A very rich excitation spectrum was observed in the field-induced quantum paramagnetic phase. The obtained data are compared with the results of recent numerical calculations, strongly suggesting a very unconventional multiparticle character of the spin dynamics in α-RuCl3. The frequency-field diagram of the lowest-energy ESR mode is found consistent with the behavior of the field-induced energy gap, revealed by thermodynamic measurements.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 241107 |
| Journal | Physical Review B |
| Volume | 96 |
| Issue number | 24 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 19 2017 |
Funding
This work was partially supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (projects ZV 6/2-2 and SFB 1143) and by the HLD at HZDR, member of the European Magnetic Field Laboratory (EMFL). A.B. 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, J.-Q.Y. and C.A.B. by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. We acknowledge discussions with S. M. Winter, K. Riedl, R. Valentí, M. Zhitomirsky, G. Jackeli, and S. Nishimoto. We thank Ch. Balz for his help orienting the samples.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Division of Scientific User Facilities | |
| Office of Basic Energy Sciences | |
| 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 | ZV 6/2-2, SFB 1143 |