Field-Tunable Quantum Disordered Ground State in the Triangular-Lattice Antiferromagnet NaYbO2

Published

October 1, 2019

Author(s)

Mitchell M. Bordelon, Eric Kenney, Chunxiao Liu, Tom Hogan, Lorenzo Posthuma, Marzieh Kavand, Yuangqi Lyu, Mark Sherwin, Nicholas Butch, Craig Brown, M. J. Graf, Leon Balents, Stephen D. Wilson

Abstract

One of the simplest routes to pursuing magnets with strong quantum fluctuations that quench conventional order is via decorating a triangular lattice with antiferromagnetically coupled S=1/2 moments. As disorder and anisotropies inherent in materials render experimental realizations of such a lattice exceedingly rare, alternative models using spin-orbit entangled J_eff=1/2 ions have also been proposed. Native disorder in candidate materials hosting a triangular lattice of J_eff=1/2 moments has however remained an obstacle in assessing this alternate approach and motivates the identification of new, structurally perfect variants. Here we investigate such a compound in NaYbO₂, which hosts an ideal triangular lattice J_eff=1/2 moments showing no signatures of conventional magnetic order down to 50 mK. Magnetic field strongly perturbs the resulting quantum disordered ground state and drives the formation interlayer exchange Our data demonstrate that the triangular lattice of J_eff=1/2 moments in NaYbO₂ realizes an unconventional, quantum-disordered ground state whose critical phase boundaries are accessible under modest fields.

Citation

Nature Physics

Volume

15

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

antiferromagnet, neutron diffraction, structure, magnetism

Citation

Bordelon, M. , Kenney, E. , Liu, C. , Hogan, T. , Posthuma, L. , Kavand, M. , Lyu, Y. , Sherwin, M. , Butch, N. , Brown, C. , Graf, M. , Balents, L. and Wilson, S. (2019), Field-Tunable Quantum Disordered Ground State in the Triangular-Lattice Antiferromagnet NaYbO₂, Nature Physics, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=927340 (Accessed October 27, 2025)