Magnetic dilution in the triangular lattice antiferromagnet NaYb$_{1-x}$Lu$_{x}$O$_2$

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Alvarado, Steven J. Gomez, Ortiz, Brenden R., Bear, Soren, Gonzalez, Benito A., Salinas, Andrea N. Capa, Berlie, Adam, Graf, Michael J., Wilson, Stephen D.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Alvarado, Steven J. Gomez
Ortiz, Brenden R.
Bear, Soren
Gonzalez, Benito A.
Salinas, Andrea N. Capa
Berlie, Adam
Graf, Michael J.
Wilson, Stephen D.
author_facet Alvarado, Steven J. Gomez
Ortiz, Brenden R.
Bear, Soren
Gonzalez, Benito A.
Salinas, Andrea N. Capa
Berlie, Adam
Graf, Michael J.
Wilson, Stephen D.
contents The delafossite-like compound NaYbO$_2$ hosts a triangular lattice of Yb$^{3+}$ moments and is a promising candidate for the realization of a quantum spin liquid ground state -- an exotic, quantum-disordered magnetic phase featuring long-range entanglement of spins. Tuning this system away from this quantum-disordered regime toward classical order or spin freezing is a powerful approach to shed light on the nature of the parent ground state. Here we leverage the substitution of nonmagnetic Lu$^{3+}$ onto the Yb$^{3+}$ sites to study the effects of magnetic disorder in NaYbO$_2$ using low-temperature ac susceptibility, heat capacity, and muon spin relaxation ($μ$SR) measurements. Our $μ$SR measurements reveal resilient, correlated magnetic fluctuations that persist to at least 15\% dilution, precluding conventional spin freezing and magnetic inhomogeneity. Heat capacity and magnetic susceptibility resolve a rapid suppression of the field-induced ``up-up-down'' magnetic order upon dilution and a crossover in the power-law behavior of the low-temperature magnetic excitations associated with the zero-field quantum disordered ground state. Taken together, these results support the notion of a robust network of entangled moments in NaYbO$_2$, and provides experimental validation of several models of a Heisenberg triangular lattice antiferromagnet in the presence of disorder.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_22613
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Magnetic dilution in the triangular lattice antiferromagnet NaYb$_{1-x}$Lu$_{x}$O$_2$
Alvarado, Steven J. Gomez
Ortiz, Brenden R.
Bear, Soren
Gonzalez, Benito A.
Salinas, Andrea N. Capa
Berlie, Adam
Graf, Michael J.
Wilson, Stephen D.
Strongly Correlated Electrons
The delafossite-like compound NaYbO$_2$ hosts a triangular lattice of Yb$^{3+}$ moments and is a promising candidate for the realization of a quantum spin liquid ground state -- an exotic, quantum-disordered magnetic phase featuring long-range entanglement of spins. Tuning this system away from this quantum-disordered regime toward classical order or spin freezing is a powerful approach to shed light on the nature of the parent ground state. Here we leverage the substitution of nonmagnetic Lu$^{3+}$ onto the Yb$^{3+}$ sites to study the effects of magnetic disorder in NaYbO$_2$ using low-temperature ac susceptibility, heat capacity, and muon spin relaxation ($μ$SR) measurements. Our $μ$SR measurements reveal resilient, correlated magnetic fluctuations that persist to at least 15\% dilution, precluding conventional spin freezing and magnetic inhomogeneity. Heat capacity and magnetic susceptibility resolve a rapid suppression of the field-induced ``up-up-down'' magnetic order upon dilution and a crossover in the power-law behavior of the low-temperature magnetic excitations associated with the zero-field quantum disordered ground state. Taken together, these results support the notion of a robust network of entangled moments in NaYbO$_2$, and provides experimental validation of several models of a Heisenberg triangular lattice antiferromagnet in the presence of disorder.
title Magnetic dilution in the triangular lattice antiferromagnet NaYb$_{1-x}$Lu$_{x}$O$_2$
topic Strongly Correlated Electrons
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.22613