Finite Spinon Density-of-States in Triangular-Lattice Delafossite TlYbSe$_2$

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Belbase, Bishnu P., Unnikrishnan, Arjun, Feng, Shi, Choi, Eun Sang, Knolle, Johannes, Banerjee, Arnab
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866916949437448192
author Belbase, Bishnu P.
Unnikrishnan, Arjun
Feng, Shi
Choi, Eun Sang
Knolle, Johannes
Banerjee, Arnab
author_facet Belbase, Bishnu P.
Unnikrishnan, Arjun
Feng, Shi
Choi, Eun Sang
Knolle, Johannes
Banerjee, Arnab
contents We introduce the rare-earth delafossite compound TlYbSe$_2$ -- extending the search for quantum spin liquids in frustrated triangular lattice magnets. While the DC magnetisation suggests magnetic exchange interactions in the order of several Kelvin, the zero-field AC magnetisation and heat capacity measurements reveal no signs of long-range magnetic order down to 20 mK, indicating a quantum-disordered ground state. We observe a spin glass transition around ~30 mK at zero field, arguably originating from a small fraction of free spins -- with an associated entropy of <3 % of the total $R\ln2$, which is suppressed by an applied field of ~0.02 T. A broad anomaly in the heat capacity measurements between 2-5 K is indicative of short-range spin correlations. Below 350 mK, we observe a robust linear temperature dependence of the heat capacity, accompanied by the complete absence of long-range order at low fields. We propose that a phenomenological theory, based on the interplay between spinons and thermally excited gauge flux excitations, can account for the linear temperature dependence of the heat capacity, and could be widely applicable to similar critical quantum spin liquid candidate materials. The results establish the low-temperature, low-field regime of TlYbSe$_2$ as a prime candidate for field-tunable triangular quantum spin liquid behavior and highlight the importance of thermally excited gauge field excitations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_05436
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Finite Spinon Density-of-States in Triangular-Lattice Delafossite TlYbSe$_2$
Belbase, Bishnu P.
Unnikrishnan, Arjun
Feng, Shi
Choi, Eun Sang
Knolle, Johannes
Banerjee, Arnab
Strongly Correlated Electrons
Materials Science
Other Condensed Matter
Quantum Physics
We introduce the rare-earth delafossite compound TlYbSe$_2$ -- extending the search for quantum spin liquids in frustrated triangular lattice magnets. While the DC magnetisation suggests magnetic exchange interactions in the order of several Kelvin, the zero-field AC magnetisation and heat capacity measurements reveal no signs of long-range magnetic order down to 20 mK, indicating a quantum-disordered ground state. We observe a spin glass transition around ~30 mK at zero field, arguably originating from a small fraction of free spins -- with an associated entropy of <3 % of the total $R\ln2$, which is suppressed by an applied field of ~0.02 T. A broad anomaly in the heat capacity measurements between 2-5 K is indicative of short-range spin correlations. Below 350 mK, we observe a robust linear temperature dependence of the heat capacity, accompanied by the complete absence of long-range order at low fields. We propose that a phenomenological theory, based on the interplay between spinons and thermally excited gauge flux excitations, can account for the linear temperature dependence of the heat capacity, and could be widely applicable to similar critical quantum spin liquid candidate materials. The results establish the low-temperature, low-field regime of TlYbSe$_2$ as a prime candidate for field-tunable triangular quantum spin liquid behavior and highlight the importance of thermally excited gauge field excitations.
title Finite Spinon Density-of-States in Triangular-Lattice Delafossite TlYbSe$_2$
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
Materials Science
Other Condensed Matter
Quantum Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.05436