Raman scattering in correlated thin films as a probe of chargeless surface states

Abstract

Several powerful techniques exist to detect topologically protected surface states of weakly-interacting electronic systems. In contrast, surface modes of strongly interacting systems which do not carry electric charge are much harder to detect. We propose resonant light scattering as a means of probing the chargeless surface modes of interacting quantum spin systems, and illustrate its efficacy by a concrete calculation for the 3D hyperhoneycomb Kitaev quantum spin liquid phase. We show that resonant scattering is required to efficiently couple to this model's sublattice polarized surface modes, comprised of emergent Majorana fermions that result from spin fractionalization. We demonstrate that the low-energy response is dominated by the surface contribution for thin films, allowing identification and characterization of emergent topological band structures.

7 pages, 4 figures; added supplemental material

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Cited by in corpus (13)

• Physics of the Kitaev model: fractionalization, dynamical correlations, and material connections
• Resonant Raman scattering theory for Kitaev models and their Majorana fermion boundary modes
• Probing spinon nodal structures in three-dimensional Kitaev spin liquids
• Observing spin fractionalization in the Kitaev spin liquid via temperature evolution of indirect resonant inelastic x-ray scattering
• Further insights into the thermodynamics of the Kitaev honeycomb model
• Majorana Landau Level Raman Spectroscopy
• Footprints of the Kitaev spin liquid in the Fano lineshapes of the Raman active optical phonons
• Fingerprints of quantum spin ice in Raman scattering
• Topological Hybrids of Magnons and Magnon Bound Pairs
• Raman Scattering Polarization and Single Spinon Identification in Two-Dimensional Kitaev Quantum Spin Liquids
• Projective-symmetry-group analysis of inelastic light scattering in Kitaev spin balls
• Long-distance coupling of spin qubits via topological magnons
• Non-Loudon-Fleury Raman scattering in spin-orbit coupled Mott insulators