Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userSymmetry Reduction in the Quantum Kagome Antiferromagnet Herbertsmithite
89
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
Employing complementary torque magnetometry and electron spin resonance on single crystals of herbertsmithite, the closest realization to date of a quantum kagome antiferromagnet featuring a spin-liquid ground state, we provide novel insight into different contributions to its magnetism. At low temperatures, two distinct types of defects with different magnetic couplings to the kagome spins are found. Surprisingly, their magnetic response contradicts the three-fold symmetry of the ideal kagome lattice, suggesting the presence of a global structural distortion that may be related to the establishment of the spin-liquid ground state.
rate research
Read More
Despite tremendous investigations, a quantum spin liquid state realized in spin-1/2 kagome Heisenberg antiferromagnet remains largely elusive. In herbertsmithite ZnCu$_3$(OH)$_6$Cl$_2$, a quantum spin liquid candidate on the perfect kagome lattice, precisely characterizing the intrinsic physics of the kagome layers is extremely challenging due to the presence of interlayer Cu/Zn antisite disorder within its crystal structure. Here we measured the specific heat and thermal conductivity of single crystal herbertsmithite in magnetic fields with high resolution. Our results are highlighted by the excellent scaling collapse of the intrinsic magnetic specific heat contribution arising from the kagome layers as a function of $T/H$ (temperature/magnetic field). In addition, no residual linear term in the thermal conductivity $kappa/T(Trightarrow 0)$ is observed in zero and applied magnetic fields, indicating the absence of itinerant gapless excitations. These results suggest a new picture for a quantum spin liquid state of the kagome layers of herbertsmithite, wherein localized orphan spins arise and interact with random exchanges in conjunction with a non-itinerant quantum spin liquid.
Measuring the specific heat of herbertsmithite single crystals in high magnetic fields (up to $34$ T) allows us to isolate the low-temperature kagome contribution while shifting away extrinsic Schottky-like contributions. The kagome contribution follows an original power law $C_{p}(Trightarrow0)propto T^{alpha}$ with $alphasim1.5$ and is found field-independent between $28$ and $34$ T for temperatures $1leq Tleq4$ K. These are serious constrains when it comes to replication using low-temperature extrapolations of high-temperature series expansions. We manage to reproduce the experimental observations if about $10$ % of the kagome sites do not contribute. Between $0$ and $34$ T, the computed specific heat has a minute field dependence then supporting an algebraic temperature dependence in zero field, typical of a critical spin liquid ground state. The need for an effective dilution of the kagome planes is discussed and is likely linked to the presence of copper ions on the interplane zinc sites. At very low temperatures and moderate fields, we also report some small field-induced anomalies in the total specific heat and start to elaborate a phase diagram.
To capture the high-field magnetization process of herbertsmithite (ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2), Faraday rotation (FR) measurements were carried out on a single crystal in magnetic fields of up to 190 T. The magnetization data evaluated from the FR angle exhibited a saturation behavior above 150 T at low temperatures, which was attributed to the 1/3 magnetization plateau. The overall behavior of the magnetization process was reproduced by theoretical models based on the nearest-neighbor Heisenberg model. This suggests that herbertsmithite is a proximate kagome antiferromagnet hosting an ideal quantum spin liquid in the ground state. A distinguishing feature is the superlinear magnetization increase, which is in contrast to the Brillouin function-type increase observed by conventional magnetization measurements and indicates a reduced contribution from free spins located at the Zn sites to the FR signal.
Optical conductivity measurements are combined with density functional theory calculations in order to understand the electrodynamic response of the frustrated Mott insulators Herbertsmithite $mathrm{ZnCu_{3}(OH)_{6}Cl_{2}}$ and the closely-related kagome-lattice compound $mathrm{Y_{3}Cu_{9}(OH)_{19}Cl_{8}}$. We identify these materials as charge-transfer rather than Mott-Hubbard insulators, similar to the high-$T_c$ cuprate parent compounds. The band edge is at 3.3 and 3.6 eV, respectively, establishing the insulating nature of these compounds. Inside the gap, we observe dipole-forbidden local electronic transitions between the Cu $3d$ orbitals in the range 1--2 eV. With the help of textit{ab initio} calculations we demonstrate that the electrodynamic response in these systems is directly related to the role of on-site Coulomb repulsion: while charge-transfer processes have their origin on transitions between the ligand band and the Cu $3d$ upper Hubbard band, textit{local} $d$-$d$ excitations remain rather unaffected by correlations.
Low energy inelastic neutron scattering on single crystals of the kagome spin liquid compound ZnCu3(OD)6Cl2 (Herbertsmithite) reveals antiferromagnetic correlations between impurity spins for energy transfers E < 0.8 meV (~J/20). The momentum dependence differs significantly from higher energy scattering which arises from the intrinsic kagome spins. The low energy fluctuations are characterized by diffuse scattering near wavevectors (1 0 0) and (0 0 3/2), which is consistent with antiferromagnetic correlations between pairs of nearest neighbor Cu impurities on adjacent triangular (Zn) interlayers. The corresponding impurity lattice resembles a simple cubic lattice in the dilute limit below the percolation threshold. Such an impurity model can describe prior neutron, NMR, and specific heat data. The low energy neutron data are consistent with the presence of a small spin-gap (Delta ~ 0.7 meV) in the kagome layers, similar to that recently observed by NMR. The ability to distinguish the scattering due to Cu impurities from that of the planar kagome Cu spins provides a new avenue for probing intrinsic spin liquid physics.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
