Continuum of magnetic excitations in the Kitaev honeycomb iridate D3LiIr2O6
Abstract Inelastic neutron scattering (INS) measurements of powder D 3 ( 7 Li)( 193 Ir) 2 O 6 reveal low energy magnetic excitations with a scattering cross-section that is broad in ∣ Q ∣ and energy transfer. The magnetic nature of the excitation spectrum is demonstrated by longitudinally polarized neutron scattering. The total magnetic moment of 1.8(4) μ B /Ir inferred from the observed magnetic scattering cross-section is consistent with the effective moment inferred from magnetic susceptibility data and expectations for the J eff = 1/2 single ion state. The rise in the dynamic correlation function $${\mathcal{S}}(Q,\omega )$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>S</mml:mi> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>(</mml:mo> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>Q</mml:mi> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mi>ω</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mo>)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> for ℏ ω < 5 meV can be described by a simple model assuming nearest-neighbor anisotropic spin exchange, such as that found in the Kitaev model. Exchange disorder associated with the D site likely plays an important role in stabilizing the low T quantum fluctuating state 1,2 .
Authors
- Thomas Halloran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5284-2339)
- M. K. Graves-Brook
- Prashant Chauhan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5563-0267)
- Johannes Knolle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0956-2419)
- J. A. Rodriguez‐Rivera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8633-8314)
- C. Broholm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1569-9892)
- Roderich Moessner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6415-4784)
- T. Takayama (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3492-2025)
- N. P. Armitage (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7568-2059)
- K. W. Plumb (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2372-8139)
- Yiming Qiu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2822-2468)
- M. B. Stone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7884-9715)
- Barry Winn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6383-4318)
- H. Takagi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5700-3761)
- Yishu Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1259-8073)
Institutions
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Bunkyo University (JP)
- Brown University (US)
- Knoxville College (US)
- Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (DE)
- Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (DE)
- Munich Center for Quantum Science and Technology (DE)
- NIST Center for Neutron Research (US)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- Technical University of Munich (DE)
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Quantum Materials
- Published
- 2025-03-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41535-025-00748-5
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Condensed Matter Physics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.77
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft