Low-energy edge signatures of the Kitaev spin liquid

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhang, Shang-Shun, Batista, Cristian D., Halász, Gábor B.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Zhang, Shang-Shun
Batista, Cristian D.
Halász, Gábor B.
author_facet Zhang, Shang-Shun
Batista, Cristian D.
Halász, Gábor B.
contents Recent experimental work indicates that the Kitaev spin liquid may be realizable close to zero magnetic field in exfoliated $α$-RuCl$_3$ flakes, thus providing a more versatile setting for studying non-Abelian anyons. Here, we propose a robust nanoscale signature of the Kitaev spin liquid that results from its edge states and manifests in the low-energy spin dynamics. In particular, we highlight a singular peak in the dynamical spin structure factor of a zigzag edge whose energy scales linearly with only one component of the magnetic field. This sharp feature in the local spin dynamics directly reflects the bond-directional Kitaev spin interactions and, more generally, the projective symmetries of the Kitaev spin liquid. We demonstrate that our proposed signature survives in the presence of edge disorder as well as non-Kitaev interactions, and provide detailed guidelines for experimentally observing it using inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy and color-center relaxometry.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_21388
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Low-energy edge signatures of the Kitaev spin liquid
Zhang, Shang-Shun
Batista, Cristian D.
Halász, Gábor B.
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Recent experimental work indicates that the Kitaev spin liquid may be realizable close to zero magnetic field in exfoliated $α$-RuCl$_3$ flakes, thus providing a more versatile setting for studying non-Abelian anyons. Here, we propose a robust nanoscale signature of the Kitaev spin liquid that results from its edge states and manifests in the low-energy spin dynamics. In particular, we highlight a singular peak in the dynamical spin structure factor of a zigzag edge whose energy scales linearly with only one component of the magnetic field. This sharp feature in the local spin dynamics directly reflects the bond-directional Kitaev spin interactions and, more generally, the projective symmetries of the Kitaev spin liquid. We demonstrate that our proposed signature survives in the presence of edge disorder as well as non-Kitaev interactions, and provide detailed guidelines for experimentally observing it using inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy and color-center relaxometry.
title Low-energy edge signatures of the Kitaev spin liquid
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.21388