Emergent Spin-Singlet Pairing in the Frustrated Kagome Metal Sc${}_3$Mn${}_3$Al${}_7$Si${}_5$

Abstract

The metallic kagome compound Sc${}_3$Mn${}_3$Al${}_7$Si${}_5$ has attracted attention as a candidate platform where geometric frustration and itinerant electrons may cooperate to stabilize a quantum-disordered magnetic ground state. Here, we combine bulk thermodynamic probes, low-noise FIB-device transport, and comprehensive ${}^{55}$Mn Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) measurements to elucidate the low-temperature spin dynamics of this system. The bulk data reveal strongly reduced magnetic entropy, a negative magnetoresistance arising from spin scattering, and field-dependent transport indicates the spin fluctuations, while showing no signatures of long-range magnetic order. NMR provides a direct local view of the correlated Mn moments: the nuclear spin-spin relaxation $T_2$ exhibits a pronounced low-temperature enhancement driven by an indirect internuclear coupling through electronic spin fluctuations, whose temperature and distance dependence point to partially gapped low-energy spin excitations. The spin-lattice relaxation rate $T_1^{-1}$ displays a Hebel-Slichter-like coherence peak near \SI{10}{K}, coincident with the resistivity crossover and a subtle heat-capacity anomaly, indicating the formation of short-range spin-singlet correlations. Together, our results demonstrate that Sc${}_3$Mn${}_3$Al${}_7$Si${}_5$ hosts an unconventional correlated state dominated by frustrated, gapped spin dynamics, placing it among the rare metallic kagome systems proximate to a quantum spin liquid.

21 pages, 13 figures including supplementary information