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Magnetic excitations and interactions in the Kitaev hyperhoneycomb iridate β−Li2IrO3

Thomas Halloran, Yishu Wang, Mengqun Li, Ioannis Rousochatzakis, Prashant Chauhan, M. B. Stone, Tomohiro Takayama, Hidenori Takagi, N. P. Armitage, Natalia B. Perkins, and Collin Broholm
Phys. Rev. B 106, 064423 – Published 17 August 2022
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  • INTRODUCTION
  • EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
  • EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
  • ANALYSIS
  • DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
  • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  • APPENDICES
    • References

    Abstract

    We present a thorough experimental study of the three-dimensional hyperhoneycomb Kitaev magnet β−Li2IrO3, using a combination of inelastic neutron scattering (INS), time-domain terahertz spectroscopy (TDTS), and heat capacity measurements. The main results include a massive low-temperature reorganization of the INS spectral weight that evolves into a broad peak centered around 12 meV, and a distinctive peak in the terahertz data at 2.8(1) meV. A detailed comparison to powder-averaged spin-wave theory calculations reveals that the positions of these two features are controlled by the anisotropic Γ coupling and the Heisenberg exchange J, respectively. The refined microscopic spin model places β−Li2IrO3 in close proximity to the Kitaev spin liquid phase.

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    • Received 26 April 2022
    • Revised 25 July 2022
    • Accepted 1 August 2022

    DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.106.064423

    ©2022 American Physical Society

    Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

    1. Research Areas
    Specific heat
    1. Physical Systems
    Iridates
    1. Techniques
    Kitaev modelLinear spin wave theoryNeutron scatteringTerahertz spectroscopy
    Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

    Authors & Affiliations

    Thomas Halloran1, Yishu Wang1,2, Mengqun Li3, Ioannis Rousochatzakis4, Prashant Chauhan1, M. B. Stone5, Tomohiro Takayama6, Hidenori Takagi6,7, N. P. Armitage1, Natalia B. Perkins3, and Collin Broholm1,8,2

    • 1Institute for Quantum Matter and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
    • 2NIST Center for Neutron Research, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA
    • 3School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA
    • 4Department of Physics, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, United Kingdom
    • 5Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
    • 6Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Heisenbergstrasse 1, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany
    • 7Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Japan
    • 8Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Johns Hopkins Unviversity, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA

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    Issue

    Vol. 106, Iss. 6 — 1 August 2022

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