Quantum spin liquids

Science · 2020 · 200 citations

• Physics
• Condensed matter physics
• Quantum mechanics

© 2020 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved. Spin liquids are quantum phases of matter with a variety of unusual features arising from their topological character, including “fractionalization”—elementary excitations that behave as fractions of an electron. Although there is not yet universally accepted experimental evidence that establishes that any single material has a spin liquid ground state, in the past few years a number of materials have been shown to exhibit distinctive properties that are expected of a quantum spin liquid. Here, we review theoretical and experimental progress in this area.

Pressure-Induced Collapse of Magnetic Order in Jarosite

Physical Review Letters · 2020 · 8 citations

• Condensed matter physics
• Physics
• Materials science

We report a pressure-induced phase transition in the frustrated kagomé material jarosite at ∼45 GPa, which leads to the disappearance of magnetic order. Using a suite of experimental techniques, we characterize the structural, electronic, and magnetic changes in jarosite through this phase transition. Synchrotron powder x-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy experiments, analyzed in aggregate with the results from density functional theory calculations, indicate that the material changes from a R3[over ¯]m structure to a structure with a R3[over ¯]c space group. The resulting phase features a rare twisted kagomé lattice in which the integrity of the equilateral Fe^{3+} triangles persists. Based on symmetry arguments we hypothesize that the resulting structural changes alter the magnetic interactions to favor a possible quantum paramagnetic phase at high pressure.