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From magnetic order to quantum disorder in the Zn-barlowite series of S = 1/2 kagomé antiferromagnets

Tustain, Katherine; Ward-O’Brien, Brendan; Bert, Fabrice; Han, Tianheng; Luetkens, Hubertus; Lancaster, Tom; Huddart, Benjamin M.; Baker, Peter J.; Clark, Lucy

From magnetic order to quantum disorder in the Zn-barlowite series of S = 1/2 kagomé antiferromagnets Thumbnail


Authors

Katherine Tustain

Brendan Ward-O’Brien

Fabrice Bert

Tianheng Han

Hubertus Luetkens

Peter J. Baker

Lucy Clark



Abstract

We report a comprehensive muon spectroscopy study of the Zn-barlowite series of S=12 kagomé antiferromagnets, ZnxCu4−x(OH)6FBr, for x = 0.00 to 0.99(1). By combining muon spin relaxation and rotation measurements with state-of-the-art density-functional theory muon-site calculations, we observe the formation of both μ–F and μ–OH complexes in Zn-barlowite. From these stopping sites, implanted muon spins reveal the suppression of long-range magnetic order into a possible quantum spin liquid state upon the increasing concentration of Zn-substitution. In the parent compound (x = 0), static long-range magnetic order below TN = 15 K manifests itself in the form of spontaneous oscillations in the time-dependent muon asymmetry signal consistent with the dipolar fields expected from the calculated muon stopping sites and the previously determined magnetic structure of barlowite. Meanwhile, in the x = 1.0 end-member of the series—in which antiferromagnetic kagomé layers of Cu2+S=12 moments are decoupled by diamagnetic Zn2+ ions—we observe that dynamic magnetic moment fluctuations persist down to at least 50 mK, indicative of a quantum disordered ground state. We demonstrate that this crossover from a static to dynamic magnetic ground state occurs for compositions of Zn-barlowite with x > 0.5, which bears resemblance to the dynamical behaviour of the widely studied Zn-paratacamite series that contains the quantum spin liquid candidate herbertsmithite.

Citation

Tustain, K., Ward-O’Brien, B., Bert, F., Han, T., Luetkens, H., Lancaster, T., …Clark, L. (2020). From magnetic order to quantum disorder in the Zn-barlowite series of S = 1/2 kagomé antiferromagnets. npj Quantum Materials, 5(1), Article 74. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-020-00276-4

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 22, 2020
Online Publication Date Oct 23, 2020
Publication Date 2020
Deposit Date Oct 26, 2020
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal npj quantum materials.
Print ISSN 2397-4648
Publisher Nature Research
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 5
Issue 1
Article Number 74
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-020-00276-4

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