Structural Refinement of Potential Quantum Spin Liquid Li<sub>2</sub>RhO<sub>3</sub> via Neutron Diffraction
POSTER
Abstract
Interest in Kitaev materials stems from their potential to realize a quantum spin liquid ground state with Majorana-Fermion excitations that follow non-Abelian statistics useful for quantum computing. The newly synthesized honeycomb rhodate Li2RhO3 is a promising candidate material for bond directional Kitaev interactions as it is isostructural with Na2IrO3, which exhibits dominant Kitaev coupling in its magnetic Hamiltonian. Additionally, Li2RhO3 lacks the highly neutron absorbing Iridium ions of Na2IrO3, making it well suited for investigation via neutron scattering. High resolution neutron powder diffraction was performed on Li2RhO3 at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Because Li2RhO3 is comprised of nearly decoupled hexagonal planes, it is prone to stacking faults which can alter the ground state. Therefore, we present refinements on collected neutron diffraction data via the Rietveld method using the FullProf Suite and discuss site disorder and stacking faults in Li2RhO3.
*This project was supported in part by an appointment to the Science Education Programs at ORNL, administered by ORAU through the U.S. DOE Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education, and used resources at HFIR, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by ORNL.
Presenters
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Erik Lamb
- Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles
- Higher Education Research Experience, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education