Magnetic anisotropy reversal driven by structural symmetry-breaking in monolayer α-RuCl3

Abstract

Layered α-RuCl3 is a promising material to potentially realize the long-sought Kitaev quantum spin liquid with fractionalized excitations. While evidence of this exotic state has been reported under a modest in-plane magnetic field, such behavior is largely inconsistent with theoretical expectations of Kitaev phases emerging only in out-of-plane fields. These predicted field-induced states have been mostly out of reach due to the strong easy-plane anisotropy of bulk crystals, however. We use a combination of tunneling spectroscopy, magnetotransport, electron diffraction, and ab initio calculations to study the layer-dependent magnons, anisotropy, structure, and exchange coupling in atomically thin samples. Due to structural distortions, the sign of the average off-diagonal exchange changes in monolayer α-RuCl3, leading to a reversal of magnetic anisotropy to easy-axis. Our work provides a new avenue to tune the magnetic interactions in α-RuCl3 and allows theoretically predicted quantum spin liquid phases for out-of-plane fields to be more experimentally accessible.

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• Spin-filter tunnel junction with matched Fermi surfaces
• Possible Intermediate Quantum Spin Liquid Phase in $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$ under High Magnetic Fields up to 100 T

Cited by in corpus (25)

• Progress and Prospects in Two-Dimensional Magnetism of van der Waals Materials
• Exploring Quantum Materials with Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering
• Kitaev Quantum Spin Liquids
• Scanning tunneling spectroscopy of Majorana zero modes in a Kitaev spin liquid
• Antiferromagnetism in two-dimensional materials: progress and computational challenges
• Magnetic Anisotropy in Two-dimensional van der Waals Magnetic Materials and Their Heterostructures: Importance, Mechanisms, and Opportunities
• Stacking disorder in $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$ via x-ray three-dimensional difference pair distribution function analysis
• Signatures of Kitaev interactions in the van der Waals ferromagnet VI3
• Magnetic States of Graphene Proximitized Kitaev Materials
• Artificially creating emergent interfacial antiferromagnetism and its manipulation in a magnetic van-der-Waals heterostructure
• Giant anisotropic magnetoresistance in few-layer α-RuCl3 tunnel junctions
• Anisotropy of the zigzag order in the Kitaev honeycomb magnet $\alpha$-RuBr${}_3$
• Possible Realization of Kitaev Spin Liquids in van der Waals Heterostructures of $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$ and Cr$X_3$ ($X$=Cl and I)
• Mott Gap Softening Coinciding with Spin Correlations Collapse in a-RuCl3
• Optical contrast analysis of α-RuCl${}_3$ nanoflakes on oxidized silicon wafers
• High temperature antiferromagnetism in ultrathin SrRu2O6 nanosheets
• Strain-induced Landau levels of Majorana fermions in an anisotropically interacting Kitaev model on a honeycomb lattice
• Robustness of Vacancy-Bound Non-Abelian Anyons in the Kitaev Model in a Magnetic Field
• Phase diagram of the J1-J2 Heisenberg second-order topological quantum magnet
• Gapped magnetic ground state in the spin-liquid candidate $\kappa$-(BEDT-TTF)${}_2$Ag${}_2$(CN)${}_3$ suggested by magnetic spectroscopy
• Understanding the magnetic interactions of the zig-zag honeycomb lattice: Application to $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Enhanced Magnetism and Phase Transitions in Ultrathin Quantum Spin Liquid Na2IrO3 Flakes
• Spin sensitive transport in RuCl_3/Pt heterostructures: revealing a field-transverse spin anisotropy in a spin liquid candidate
• Superconducting meander-line surface coil for NMR spectroscopy of nanoscale thin films
• Dominant Kitaev Interaction and Field-induced Quantum Disordered Phase in the Cobaltate Na${}_2$Co${}_2$TeO${}_6$