Chiral excitations and the intermediate-field spin-liquid regime in the Kitaev magnet $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$

Abstract

In the Kitaev magnet $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$, the existence of a magnetic-field-induced quantum spin liquid phase and of anyonic excitations are discussed controversially. We address this elusive, exotic phase via helicity-dependent Raman scattering and analyze the Raman optical activity of excitations as a function of magnetic field and temperature. The hotly debated field regime between 7.5 T and 10.5 T is characterized by clear spectroscopic signatures such as a plateau of the Raman optical activity of the dominant, chiral spin-flip excitation. This provides direct evidence for the existence of a distinct intermediate field regime compatible with a quantum spin liquid phase.

6 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (13)

• Mott Insulators in the Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling Limit: From Heisenberg to a Quantum Compass and Kitaev Models
• Scattering Continuum and Possible Fractionalized Excitations in $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
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• Robustness of the thermal Hall effect close to half-quantization in a field-induced spin liquid state
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• Raman Scattering Signatures of Kitaev Spin Liquids in A${}_2$ IrO${}_3$ Iridates
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• Sign structure of thermal Hall conductivity for in-plane-field polarized Kitaev magnets
• Unconventional spin dynamics in the honeycomb-lattice material $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$: high-field ESR studies
• Chiral phonons and pseudo-angular momentum in non-symmorphic systems
• Thermodynamic perspective on the field-induced behavior of $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Nature of Magnetic Excitations in the High-Field Phase of $\alpha$-RuCl${}_3$
• Probing the spin structure of the fractional quantum Hall magnetoroton with polarized Raman scattering

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Dynamical response theory of interacting Majorana fermions and its application to generic Kitaev quantum spin liquids in a field
• Intermediate field-induced phase of the honeycomb magnet BaCo${}_2$(AsO${}_4$)${}_2$
• Raman spectroscopy of anyons in generic Kitaev spin liquids