Instabilities of spin-liquid states in a quantum kagome antiferromagnet

Gomilšek, M.; Klanjšek, M.; Pregelj, M.; Coomer, F.C.; Luetkens, H.; Zaharko, O.; Fennell, T.; Li, Y.; Zhang, Q.M.; Zorko, A.

doi:10.1103/physrevb.93.060405

Instabilities of spin-liquid states in a quantum kagome antiferromagnet

Gomilšek, M.; Klanjšek, M.; Pregelj, M.; Coomer, F.C.; Luetkens, H.; Zaharko, O.; Fennell, T.; Li, Y.; Zhang, Q.M.; Zorko, A.

Authors

M. Gomilšek

M. Klanjšek

M. Pregelj

F.C. Coomer

H. Luetkens

O. Zaharko

T. Fennell

Y. Li

Q.M. Zhang

A. Zorko

Abstract

The emergent behavior of spin liquids that are born out of geometrical frustration makes them an intriguing state of matter. We show that in the quantum kagome antiferromagnet ZnCu3(OH)6SO4 several different correlated yet fluctuating states exist. By combining complementary local-probe techniques with neutron scattering, we discover a crossover from a critical regime into a gapless spin-liquid phase with decreasing temperature. An additional unconventional instability of the latter phase leads to a second, distinct spin-liquid state that is stabilized at the lowest temperatures. We advance such complex behavior as a feature common to different frustrated quantum magnets.

Citation

Gomilšek, M., Klanjšek, M., Pregelj, M., Coomer, F., Luetkens, H., Zaharko, O., …Zorko, A. (2016). Instabilities of spin-liquid states in a quantum kagome antiferromagnet. Physical review B, 93(6), Article 060405(R). https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.93.060405

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jan 15, 2016
Online Publication Date	Feb 16, 2016
Publication Date	Feb 16, 2016
Deposit Date	May 11, 2018
Journal	Physical Review B
Print ISSN	1098-0121
Electronic ISSN	1550-235X
Publisher	American Physical Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	93
Issue	6
Article Number	060405(R)
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.93.060405
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1326935
Related Public URLs	https://arxiv.org/abs/1602.01945