中国物理B ›› 2018, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (10): 106101-106101.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/27/10/106101

所属专题: TOPICAL REVIEW — Fundamental research under high magnetic fields

• SPECIAL TOPIC—Recent advances in thermoelectric materials and devices • 上一篇    下一篇

Recent progress on magnetic-field studies on quantum-spin-liquid candidates

Zhen Ma(马祯), Kejing Ran(冉柯静), Jinghui Wang(王靖珲), Song Bao(鲍嵩), Zhengwei Cai(蔡正蔚), Shichao Li(李世超), Jinsheng Wen(温锦生)   

  1. 1 National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China;
    2 Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
  • 收稿日期:2018-06-25 修回日期:2018-07-25 出版日期:2018-10-05 发布日期:2018-10-05
  • 通讯作者: Jinsheng Wen E-mail:jwen@nju.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11674157 and 11822405) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 020414380105).

Recent progress on magnetic-field studies on quantum-spin-liquid candidates

Zhen Ma(马祯)1, Kejing Ran(冉柯静)1, Jinghui Wang(王靖珲)1, Song Bao(鲍嵩)1, Zhengwei Cai(蔡正蔚)1, Shichao Li(李世超)1, Jinsheng Wen(温锦生)1,2   

  1. 1 National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Department of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China;
    2 Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
  • Received:2018-06-25 Revised:2018-07-25 Online:2018-10-05 Published:2018-10-05
  • Contact: Jinsheng Wen E-mail:jwen@nju.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11674157 and 11822405) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 020414380105).

摘要: Quantum spin liquids (QSLs) represent a novel state of matter in which quantum fluctuations prevent the conventional magnetic order from being established, and the spins remain disordered even at zero temperature. There have been many theoretical developments proposing various QSL states. On the other hand, experimental movement was relatively slow largely due to limitations on the candidate materials and difficulties in the measurements. In recent years, the experimental progress has been accelerated. In this topical review, we give a brief summary of experiments on the QSL candidates under magnetic fields. We arrange our discussions by two categories:i) Geometrically-frustrated systems, including triangular-lattice compounds YbMgGaO4 and YbZnGaO4, κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu2(CN)3, and EtMe3Sb[Pd(dmit)2]2, and the kagomé system ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2; ii) the Kitaev material α-RuCl3. Among these, we will pay special attention to α-RuCl3, which has been intensively studied by ours and other groups recently. We will present evidence that both supports and rejects the QSL ground state for these materials, based on which we give several perspectives to stimulate further research activities.

关键词: quantum spin liquids, spin glass, neutron scattering

Abstract: Quantum spin liquids (QSLs) represent a novel state of matter in which quantum fluctuations prevent the conventional magnetic order from being established, and the spins remain disordered even at zero temperature. There have been many theoretical developments proposing various QSL states. On the other hand, experimental movement was relatively slow largely due to limitations on the candidate materials and difficulties in the measurements. In recent years, the experimental progress has been accelerated. In this topical review, we give a brief summary of experiments on the QSL candidates under magnetic fields. We arrange our discussions by two categories:i) Geometrically-frustrated systems, including triangular-lattice compounds YbMgGaO4 and YbZnGaO4, κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu2(CN)3, and EtMe3Sb[Pd(dmit)2]2, and the kagomé system ZnCu3(OH)6Cl2; ii) the Kitaev material α-RuCl3. Among these, we will pay special attention to α-RuCl3, which has been intensively studied by ours and other groups recently. We will present evidence that both supports and rejects the QSL ground state for these materials, based on which we give several perspectives to stimulate further research activities.

Key words: quantum spin liquids, spin glass, neutron scattering

中图分类号:  (Neutron scattering (including small-angle scattering))

  • 61.05.fg
75.10.Kt (Quantum spin liquids, valence bond phases and related phenomena) 75.50.Lk (Spin glasses and other random magnets)