Magnetic ground state of the Kitaev Na${}_2$Co${}_2$TeO${}_6$ spin liquid candidate

Abstract

As a candidate Kitaev material, Na${}_2$Co${}_2$TeO${}_6$ exhibits intriguing magnetism on a honeycomb lattice that is believed to be $C_3$-symmetric. Here we report a neutron diffraction study of high quality single crystals under $a$-axis magnetic fields. Our data support the less common notion of a magnetic ground state that corresponds to a triple-$\mathbf{q}$ magnetic structure with $C_3$ symmetry, rather than the multi-domain zigzag structure typically assumed in prototype Kitaev spin liquid candidates. In particular, we find that the field is unable to repopulate the supposed zigzag domains, where the only alternative explanation is that the domains are strongly pinned by hitherto unidentified structural reasons. If the triple-$\mathbf{q}$ structure is correct then this requires reevaluation of many candidate Kitaev materials. We also find that fields beyond about 10 Tesla suppress the long range antiferromagnetic order, allowing new magnetic behavior to emerge different from that expected for a spin liquid.

4 pages, 4 figures, plus Supplemental Material

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Cited by in corpus (32)

• Triple-q order in Na${}_2$Co${}_2$TeO${}_6$ from proximity to hidden-SU(2)-symmetric point
• Kitaev Quantum Spin Liquids
• Easy-plane multi-$\mathbf{q}$ magnetic ground state of Na${}_3$Co${}_2$SbO${}_6$
• Quantum Phases in the Honeycomb-Lattice $J_1$--$J_3$ Ferro-Antiferromagnetic Model
• Phonon thermal transport shaped by strong spin-phonon scattering in a Kitaev material Na${}_2$Co${}_2$TeO${}_6$
• Chiral Dirac fermion in a collinear antiferromagnet
• Effect of ring-exchange interactions in the extended Kitaev honeycomb model
• Phononic-magnetic dichotomy of the thermal Hall effect in the Kitaev-Heisenberg candidate material Na${}_2$Co${}_2$TeO${}_6$
• Spin vestigial orders in extended Heisenberg-Kitaev models near hidden SU(2) points: Application to Na${}_2$Co${}_2$TeO${}_6$
• Magnon interactions in the quantum paramagnetic phase of CoNb${}_2$O${}_6$
• Comparative Raman Scattering Study of Crystal Field Excitations in Co-based Quantum Magnets
• Field and Polarization Dependent Quantum Spin Dynamics in Honeycomb Magnet Na${}_2$Co${}_2$TeO${}_6$: Magnetic Excitations and Continuum
• Field-induced phase transitions and quantum criticality in a honeycomb antiferromagnet Na3Co2SbO6
• Persistent spin dynamics in magnetically ordered honeycomb cobalt oxides
• Ferrimagnetism from triple-q order in Na${}_2$Co${}_2$TeO${}_6$
• Advances in honeycomb layered oxides: Part I -- Syntheses and Characterisations of Pnictogen- and Chalcogen-Based Honeycomb Layered Oxides
• Spin-1/2 XX chains with modulated Gamma interaction
• Robust triple-q magnetic order with trainable spin vorticity in Na${}_2$Co${}_2$TeO${}_6$
• Field-Angle-Resolved Specific Heat in Na${}_2$Co${}_2$TeO${}_6$: Evidence against Kitaev Quantum Spin Liquid
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• Topological phase transitions and thermal Hall effect in a noncollinear spin texture
• Lattice and magnetic structure in the van der Waals antiferromagnet VBr3
• Spin waves in Na${}_2$Co${}_2$TeO${}_6$ studied by high-frequency/high-field ESR: Successes and failures of the triple-$\mathbf{q}$ model
• Ground state and magnetic transitions of the orthorhombic antiferromagnet CaCo${}_2$TeO${}_6$
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