Scattering Continuum and Possible Fractionalized Excitations in $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$

Abstract

The combination of electronic correlation and spin-orbit coupling is thought to precipitate a variety of highly unusual electronic phases in solids, including topological and quantum spin liquid states. We report a Raman scattering study that provides evidence for unconventional excitations in $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$, a spin-orbit coupled Mott insulator on the honeycomb lattice. In particular, our measurements reveal unusual magnetic scattering, typified by a broad continuum. The temperature dependence of this continuum is evident over a large scale compared to the magnetic ordering temperature, suggestive of frustrated magnetic interactions. This is confirmed through an analysis of the phonon linewidths, which show a related anomaly due to spin-phonon coupling. These observations are in line with theoretical expectations for the Heisenberg-Kitaev model and suggest that $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$ may be close to a quantum spin liquid ground state.

7 pages, 3 figures, Supplemental Material included

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Cited by in corpus (62)

• Models and Materials for Generalized Kitaev Magnetism
• Magnetic order in $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$: a honeycomb lattice quantum magnet with strong spin-orbit coupling
• Spin-wave excitations evidencing the Kitaev interaction in single crystalline $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Magnetic Excitations and Continuum of a Field-Induced Quantum Spin Liquid in $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Microscopic mechanism for higher-spin Kitaev model
• Kitaev interactions in the Co honeycomb antiferromagnets Na${}_3$Co${}_2$SbO${}_6$ and Na${}_2$Co${}_2$TeO${}_6$
• Theory of the field-revealed Kitaev spin liquid
• Raman spectroscopic signature of fractionalized excitations in the harmonic-honeycomb iridates $\beta$- and $\gamma$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Spin-split band hybridization in graphene proximitized with $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$ nanosheets
• Magnetic order induced polarization anomaly of Raman scattering in 2D magnet CrI${}_3$
• Electronic Structure of the Kitaev Material $\alpha$-${\text{RuCl}}_3$ Probed by Photoemission and Inverse Photoemission Spectroscopies
• Optically Driven Magnetic Phase Transition of Monolayer RuCl3
• Rearrangement of Van-der-Waals Stacking and Formation of a Singlet State at $T=90$ K in a Cluster Magnet
• Thermodynamic perspective on the field-induced behavior of $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• High-pressure magnetization and NMR studies on $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Experimental signatures of quantum and topological states in frustrated magnetism
• Nature of Magnetic Excitations in the High-Field Phase of $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Thermodynamic and Transport Properties in Disordered Kitaev Models
• Electronic and phonon excitations in α-RuCl${}_3$
• Spin excitations of a proximate Kitaev quantum spin liquid realized in Cu${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Spin waves and spin-state transitions in a ruthenate high-temperature antiferromagnet
• Thermal transport in a two-dimensional ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ spin liquid
• Revisiting the Kitaev material candidacy of Ir4+ double perovskite iridates
• Crystalline Kitaev spin liquids
• Temperature evolution of spin dynamics in two- and three-dimensional Kitaev models: Influence of fluctuating gauge fluxes
• Observation of a random singlet state in a diluted Kitaev honeycomb material
• Probing spinon nodal structures in three-dimensional Kitaev spin liquids
• Putative spin liquid in the triangle-based iridate Ba${}_3$IrTi${}_2$O${}_9$
• Investigation of the magnetoelastic coupling anisotropy in the Kitaev material $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Stripe-yz magnetic order in the triangular-lattice antiferromagnet KCeS2
• Thermal spin dynamics of Kitaev magnets $-$ scattering continua and magnetic field induced phases within a stochastic semiclassical approach
• Spin-phonon coupling and dielectric spectroscopy in nano-crystalline Pr${}_2$CoMnO${}_6$ double perovskite manganite
• Evidence for magnetic fractional excitations in a Kitaev quantum-spin-liquid candidate $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Nonlinear response of the Kitaev honeycomb lattice model in a weak magnetic field
• Anisotropic magnetic excitations from single-chirality antiferromagnetic state in Ca-kapellasite
• Spin liquid in twisted homobilayers group-VI gichalcogenides
• Physical Properties of Nano-crystalline Sm${}_2$CoMnO${}_6$: structure, magnetism, spin-phonon coupling and dielectric study
• Neutron spectroscopy evidence for a possible magnetic-field-induced gapless quantum-spin-liquid phase in a Kitaev material $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Optical magnons with dominant bond-directional exchange interactions in a honeycomb lattice iridate $\alpha$-Li${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Terahertz Magnetic and Lattice Excitations in van der Waals Ferromagnet VI3
• Light-induced magnetization driven by interorbital charge motion in a spin-orbit assisted Mott insulator alpha-RuCl3
• Incarnation of Majorana Fermions in Kitaev Quantum Spin Lattice
• Asymmetric modulation of Majorana excitation spectra and nonreciprocal thermal transport in the Kitaev spin liquid under a staggered magnetic field
• Local Raman Spectroscopy of Chiral Majorana Edge Modes in Kitaev Spin Liquids and Topological Superconductors
• Projective-symmetry-group analysis of inelastic light scattering in Kitaev spin balls
• Non-local features of the spin-orbit exciton in Kitaev materials
• Effects of magnon-magnon interactions in a noncollinear magnet induced by combination of a symmetric and an antisymmetric exchange interaction
• Bulk excitations in ultraclean $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$: Quantitative evidence for Majorana dispersions in a Kitaev quantum spin liquid
• Digital Quantum Simulation of the Kitaev Quantum Spin Liquid
• Long-lived Zone-boundary Magnons in an Antiferromagnet
• Gate tuning of coupled electronic and structural phase transition in atomically thin Ta${}_2$NiSe${}_5$
• Potential of Raman scattering in probing magnetic excitations and their coupling to lattice dynamics
• Ferrichiral skyrmions with sublattice-resolved chirality in extended Kitaev model in triangular lattice
• Raman spectroscopy of anyons in generic Kitaev spin liquids
• Magnetostriction in the $J$-$K$-$\Gamma$ model: Application of the numerical linked cluster expansion
• Anomalous and Anisotropic Nonlinear Susceptibility in the Proximate Kitaev Magnet $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• The field-angle anisotropy of proximate Kitaev systems under an in-plane magnetic field
• Kitaev interaction and possible spin liquid state in CoI2 and Co2/3Mg1/3I2
• Spinon excitations and spin correlations in the one-dimensional quantum magnet $\beta$-VOSO${}_4$ probed by Raman spectroscopy
• Phonon anomalies and critical scaling in the spin-$1/2$ trimer chain Na${}_2$Cu${}_3$Ge${}_4$O${}_{12}$
• Non-Loudon-Fleury Raman scattering in spin-orbit coupled Mott insulators
• Strategy to Extract Kitaev Interaction using Symmetry in Honeycomb Mott Insulators