Proximate ferromagnetic state in the Kitaev model material $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$

Abstract

$\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$ is a major candidate for the realization of the Kitaev quantum spin liquid, but its zigzag antiferromagnetic order at low temperatures indicates deviations from the Kitaev model. We have quantified the spin Hamiltonian of $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$ by a resonant inelastic x-ray scattering study at the Ru $L_3$ absorption edge. In the paramagnetic state, the quasi-elastic intensity of magnetic excitations has a broad maximum around the zone center without any local maxima at the zigzag magnetic Bragg wavevectors. This finding implies that the zigzag order is fragile and readily destabilized by competing ferromagnetic correlations. The classical ground state of the experimentally determined Hamiltonian is actually ferromagnetic. The zigzag state is stabilized via a quantum "order by disorder" mechanism, leaving ferromagnetism -- along with the Kitaev spin liquid -- as energetically proximate metastable states. The three closely competing states and their collective excitations hold the key to the theoretical understanding of the unusual properties of $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$ in magnetic fields.

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• Origin of oscillatory structures in the magnetothermal conductivity of the putative Kitaev magnet $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
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• Extraction of the interaction parameters for $\alpha -$RuCl${}_3$ from neutron data using machine learning
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• Easy-plane anisotropic-exchange magnets on a honeycomb lattice: quantum effects and dealing with them
• Nature of visons in the perturbed ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic Kitaev honeycomb models
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• Mechanism of carrier doping induced magnetic phase transitions in two-dimensional materials
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• Thermally enhanced Majorana-mediated spin transport in the Kitaev model
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