Field-induced magnetic phases in the Kitaev candidate Na${}_3$Co${}_2$SbO${}_6$

Abstract

We report a rich anisotropic magnetic phase diagram of Na${}_3$Co${}_2$SbO${}_6$, a previously proposed cobaltate Kitaev candidate, based on field- and temperature-dependent magnetization, specific heat, and magnetocaloric effect studies. At low temperatures, our experiments uncover a low-lying $j_{\text{eff}}=\frac{1}{2}$ state with an antiferromagnetic ground state and pronounced in-plane versus out-of-plane anisotropy. The experimentally identified magnetic phases are theoretically characterized through classical Monte Carlo simulations within an extended Kitaev-Heisenberg model with additional ring exchange interactions. The resulting phase diagram reveals a variety of exotic field-induced magnetic phases, including double-$\text{q}$, $\frac{1}{3}$-AFM, zigzag, and vortex phases.