Field-Induced Instability of a Gapless Spin Liquid with a Spinon Fermi Surface

Gomilšek, M.; Klanjšek, M.; Žitko, R.; Pregelj, M.; Bert, F.; Mendels, P.; Li, Y.; Zhang, Q. M.; Zorko, A.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.119.137205

Field-Induced Instability of a Gapless Spin Liquid with a Spinon Fermi Surface

Gomilšek, M.; Klanjšek, M.; Žitko, R.; Pregelj, M.; Bert, F.; Mendels, P.; Li, Y.; Zhang, Q. M.; Zorko, A.

Authors

M. Gomilšek

M. Klanjšek

R. Žitko

M. Pregelj

F. Bert

P. Mendels

Y. Li

Q. M. Zhang

A. Zorko

Abstract

The ground state of the quantum kagome antiferromagnet Zn-brochantite, ZnCu3ðOHÞ6SO4, which is one of only a few known spin-liquid (SL) realizations in two or three dimensions, has been described as a gapless SL with a spinon Fermi surface. Employing nuclear magnetic resonance in a broad magnetic-field range down to millikelvin temperatures, we show that in applied magnetic fields this enigmatic state is intrinsically unstable against a SL with a full or a partial gap. A similar instability of the gapless Fermisurface SL was previously encountered in an organic triangular-lattice antiferromagnet, suggesting a common destabilization mechanism that most likely arises from spinon pairing. A salient property of this instability is that an infinitesimal field suffices to induce it, as predicted theoretically for some other types of gapless SLs.

Citation

Gomilšek, M., Klanjšek, M., Žitko, R., Pregelj, M., Bert, F., Mendels, P., …Zorko, A. (2017). Field-Induced Instability of a Gapless Spin Liquid with a Spinon Fermi Surface. Physical Review Letters, 119(13), Article 137205. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.119.137205

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	May 17, 2017
Online Publication Date	Sep 29, 2017
Publication Date	Sep 29, 2017
Deposit Date	May 11, 2018
Publicly Available Date	Jan 3, 2024
Journal	Physical Review Letters
Print ISSN	0031-9007
Electronic ISSN	1079-7114
Publisher	American Physical Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	119
Issue	13
Article Number	137205
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.119.137205
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1326884
Related Public URLs	https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.02084