Signatures of fractionalization in spin liquids from interlayer thermal transport

Abstract

Quantum spin liquids (QSLs) are intriguing phases of matter possessing fractionalized excitations. Several quasi-two dimensional materials have been proposed as candidate QSLs, but direct evidence for fractionalization in these systems is still lacking. In this paper, we show that the inter-plane thermal conductivity in layered QSLs carries a unique signature of fractionalization. We examine several types of gapless QSL phases - a $Z_2$ QSL with either a Dirac spectrum or a spinon Fermi surface, and a $U(1)$ QSL with a Fermi surface. In all cases, the in-plane and $c-$axis thermal conductivities have a different power law dependence on temperature, due to the different mechanisms of transport in the two directions: in the planes, the thermal current is carried by fractionalized excitations, whereas the inter-plane current is carried by integer (non-fractional) excitations. In layered $Z_2$ and $U(1)$ QSLs with a Fermi surface, the $c-$axis thermal conductivity is parametrically smaller than the in-plane one, but parametrically larger than the phonon contribution at low temperatures.

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• Absence of magnetic thermal conductivity in the quantum spin liquid candidate EtMe3Sb[Pd(dmit)2]2 -- revisited
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• Diagnosing phases of magnetic insulators via noise magnetometry with spin qubits
• Heat Transport in Herbertsmithite: Can a Quantum Spin Liquid Survive Disorder?
• Bilayer Kitaev models: Phase diagrams and novel phases
• Fermionization of Bosons in a Flat Band
• Strongly coupled phonon fluid and Goldstone modes in an anharmonic quantum solid: transport and chaos
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• Thermodynamics and heat transport of quantum spin liquid candidates NaYbS${}_2$ and NaYbSe${}_2$
• Converting electrons into emergent fermions at a superconductor-Kitaev spin liquid interface
• Drag resistance mediated by quantum spin liquids
• Floating topological phases