SKM 2023 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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MA: Fachverband Magnetismus

MA 33: Frustrated Magnets I

MA 33.4: Vortrag

Mittwoch, 29. März 2023, 15:45–16:00, HSZ 403

Thermal spin dynamics of Kitaev magnets — •Oliver Franke — Institut für Theoretische Physik, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin, Deutschland

The honeycomb magnet α-RuCl₃ is a prime candidate material for realizing the Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL), but it shows long-range magnetic order at low temperature. Nevertheless, its broad inelastic neutron scattering (INS) response at finite frequency has been interpreted as that of a ’proximate QSL’. A moderate magnetic field indeed melts the residual zigzag order, giving rise to peculiar intermediate field phases before the high-field polarized state.

Are the scattering continua observed in experiments signatures of quantum fractionalized excitations in a QSL phase? Or are they caused by thermal fluctuations that break the large unit cell intermediate field phases predicted by theory? In this talk, I will present our recent study on the subject, which helps to answer these topical questions and highlights the importance of distinguishing finite temperature fluctuations from genuine quantum fractionalization signatures in frustrated magnets.