Hydrated lithium intercalation into the Kitaev spin liquid candidate material $\alpha -$RuCl${}_3$

Abstract

We study on transport and magnetic properties of hydrated and lithium-intercalated $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$, Li${}_x$RuCl${}_3\cdot y$H${}_2$O, for investigating the effect on mobile-carrier doping into candidate materials for a realization of a Kitaev model. From thermogravitometoric and one-dimensional electron map analyses, we find two crystal structures of this system, that is, mono-layer hydrated Li${}_x$RuCl${}_3\cdot y$H${}_2$O~$(x\approx 0.56,y\approx 1.3)$ and bi-layer hydrated Li${}_x$RuCl${}_3\cdot y$H${}_2$O~$(x\approx 0.56,y\approx 3.9)$. The temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity shows a temperature hysteresis at 200-270 K, which is considered to relate with a formation of a charge order. The antiferromagnetic order at 7-13 K in pristine $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$~ is successfully suppressed down to 2 K in bi-layer hydrated Li${}_x$RuCl${}_3\cdot y$H${}_2$O, which is sensitive to not only an electronic state of Ru but also an interlayer distance between Ru-Cl planes.

7 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (6)

• Mott Insulators in the Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling Limit: From Heisenberg to a Quantum Compass and Kitaev Models
• $\alpha$-RuCl3: a Spin-Orbit Assisted Mott Insulator on a Honeycomb Lattice
• Models and Materials for Generalized Kitaev Magnetism
• Magnetic order in $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$: a honeycomb lattice quantum magnet with strong spin-orbit coupling
• Raman Scattering Signatures of Kitaev Spin Liquids in A${}_2$ IrO${}_3$ Iridates
• Topological superconductivity in the extended Kitaev-Heisenberg model