Spiral spin liquid in a frustrated honeycomb antiferromagnet: A single-crystal study of GdZnPO
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866912277213478912 |
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| author | Wan, Zongtang Zhao, Yuqian Chen, Xun Ma, Zhaohua Li, Zikang Ouyang, Zhongwen Li, Yuesheng |
| author_facet | Wan, Zongtang Zhao, Yuqian Chen, Xun Ma, Zhaohua Li, Zikang Ouyang, Zhongwen Li, Yuesheng |
| contents | The frustrated honeycomb spin model can stabilize a subextensively degenerate spiral spin liquid with nontrivial topological excitations and defects, but its material realization remains rare. Here, we report the experimental realization of this model in the structurally disorder-free compound GdZnPO. Using a single-crystal sample, we find that spin-7/2 rare-earth Gd$^{3+}$ ions form a honeycomb lattice with dominant second-nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic and first-nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic couplings, along with easy-plane single-site anisotropy. This frustrated model stabilizes a unique spiral spin liquid with a degenerate contour around the $\mathrm{K}$$\{$1/3,1/3$\}$ point in reciprocal space, consistent with our experiments down to 30 mK, including the observation of a giant residual specific heat. Our results establish GdZnPO as an ideal platform for exploring the stability of spiral spin liquids and their novel properties, such as the emergence of low-energy topological defects on the sublattices. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_12396 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Spiral spin liquid in a frustrated honeycomb antiferromagnet: A single-crystal study of GdZnPO Wan, Zongtang Zhao, Yuqian Chen, Xun Ma, Zhaohua Li, Zikang Ouyang, Zhongwen Li, Yuesheng Strongly Correlated Electrons Materials Science The frustrated honeycomb spin model can stabilize a subextensively degenerate spiral spin liquid with nontrivial topological excitations and defects, but its material realization remains rare. Here, we report the experimental realization of this model in the structurally disorder-free compound GdZnPO. Using a single-crystal sample, we find that spin-7/2 rare-earth Gd$^{3+}$ ions form a honeycomb lattice with dominant second-nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic and first-nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic couplings, along with easy-plane single-site anisotropy. This frustrated model stabilizes a unique spiral spin liquid with a degenerate contour around the $\mathrm{K}$$\{$1/3,1/3$\}$ point in reciprocal space, consistent with our experiments down to 30 mK, including the observation of a giant residual specific heat. Our results establish GdZnPO as an ideal platform for exploring the stability of spiral spin liquids and their novel properties, such as the emergence of low-energy topological defects on the sublattices. |
| title | Spiral spin liquid in a frustrated honeycomb antiferromagnet: A single-crystal study of GdZnPO |
| topic | Strongly Correlated Electrons Materials Science |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.12396 |