Nearest-neighbor resonating valence bonds in YbMgGaO4

Abstract

Since its proposal by Anderson, resonating valence bonds (RVB) formed by a superposition of fluctuating singlet pairs have been a paradigmatic concept in understanding quantum spin liquids (QSL). Here, we show that excitations related to singlet breaking on nearest-neighbor bonds describe the high-energy part of the excitation spectrum in YbMgGaO4, the effective spin-1/2 frustrated antiferromagnet on the triangular lattice, as originally considered by Anderson. By a thorough single-crystal inelastic neutron scattering (INS) study, we demonstrate that nearest-neighbor RVB excitations account for the bulk of the spectral weight above 0.5 meV. This renders YbMgGaO4 the first experimental system where putative RVB correlations restricted to nearest neighbors are observed, and poses a fundamental question of how complex interactions on the triangular lattice conspire to form this unique many-body state.

To be published in Nature Communications

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• $\mu$SR evidence for the U(1) quantum spin liquid ground state in the triangular antiferromagnet YbMgGaO${}_4$
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• Physical realization of a quantum spin liquid based on a novel frustration mechanism
• Possible valence-bond condensation in the frustrated cluster magnet LiZn2Mo3O8
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• Pinwheel VBS state and triplet excitations in the two-dimensional deformed kagome lattice
• Ground-state phase diagram of an anisotropic spin-$1/2$ model on the triangular lattice
• The Valence Bond Glass phase

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• Spin-glass ground state in a triangular-lattice compound YbZnGaO${}_4$
• Topography of Spin Liquids on a Triangular Lattice
• Field-induced instability of the quantum-spin-liquid ground state in the $J_{\mathrm{eff}}=\frac{1}{2}$ triangular-lattice compound NaYbO${}_2$
• Scaling and data collapse from local moments in frustrated disordered quantum spin systems
• Anisotropic-Exchange Magnets on a Triangular Lattice: Spin Waves, Accidental Degeneracies, and Dual Spin Liquids
• Spinon Fermi surface spin liquid in a triangular lattice antiferromagnet NaYbSe${}_2$
• Absence of magnetic thermal conductivity in the quantum spin liquid candidate EtMe3Sb[Pd(dmit)2]2 -- revisited
• Quantum Magnetism in Minerals
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• Spin liquids in geometrically perfect triangular antiferromagnets
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• Nature of the randomness-induced quantum spin liquids in two dimensions
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• Rearrangement of uncorrelated valence bonds evidenced by low-energy spin excitations in YbMgGaO4
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• Selective measurements of intertwined multipolar orders: non-Kramers doublets on a triangular lattice
• Partial up-up-down order with the continuously distributed order parameter in the triangular antiferromagnet TmMgGaO4
• Absence of zero-point entropy in a triangular Ising antiferromagnet
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• Randomness induced spin-liquid-like phase in the spin-$1/2$ $J_1-J_2$ triangular Heisenberg model
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• Field-Induced Instability of a Gapless Spin Liquid with a Spinon Fermi Surface
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• Quantum spin state transitions in spin-1 equilateral triangular lattice antiferromagnet Na${}_2$BaNi(PO${}_4$)${}_2$
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• Disorder-induced broadening of the spin waves in a triangular-lattice quantum-spin-liquid candidate YbZnGaO${}_4$
• Scattering Signatures of Bond-Dependent Magnetic Interactions
• Gapped ground state in the zigzag pseudospin-1/2 quantum antiferromagnetic chain compound PrTiNbO6
• Persistent spin dynamics and absence of spin freezing in the $H$-$T$ phase diagram of the 2D triangular antiferromagnet YbMgGaO${}_4$
• Exact diagonalization study of the anisotropic Heisenberg model related to YbMgGaO${}_4$
• Recent progress on magnetic-field studies on quantum-spin-liquid candidates
• Persistent spin dynamics in the pressurized spin-liquid candidate YbMgGaO${}_4$
• Frustrated Magnetism in Triangular Lattice TlYbS${}_2$ Crystals Grown via Molten Flux
• Spin-Liquid-Like State in Pure and Mn-Doped TbInO3 with Nearly Triangular Lattice
• Spin liquid in twisted homobilayers group-VI gichalcogenides
• Role of alkaline metal in the rare-earth triangular antiferromagnet KYbO${}_2$
• Magnetism of $\mathrm{NaYb}{\mathrm{S}}_2$: From finite temperatures to ground state
• Constraining the Parameter Space of a Quantum Spin Liquid Candidate in Applied Field with Iterative Optimization
• The complex non-collinear magnetic orderings in Ba2YOsO6: A new approach to tuning spin-lattice interactions and controlling magnetic orderings in frustrated complex oxides
• Reinvestigation of the homogeneous spin model in YbMgGaO${}_4$
• Anisotropic magnetism and spin fluctuations in the triangular-lattice spin-liquid candidate NaYbSe${}_2$: a single-crystal ${}^{23}$Na and ${}^{77}$Se NMR study
• Non-magnetic ion site disorder effects on the quantum magnetism of a spin-1/2 equilateral triangular lattice antiferromagnet
• Magnetically disordered ground state in the triangular-lattice antiferromagnets Rb${}_3$Yb(VO${}_4$)${}_2$ and Cs${}_3$Yb(VO${}_4$)${}_2$
• Evidence for a gapless Dirac spin-liquid ground state in a spin-3/2 triangular-lattice antiferromagnet
• Interplay of short-range bond order and A-type antiferromagnetic order in metallic triangular lattice GdZn${}_3$P${}_3$
• An indirect geometry crystal time-of-flight spectrometer for FRM II