Quantum disordered state in the <i>J<sub>eff </sub></i>=1/2 triangular lattice antiferromagnet NaYbO<sub>2</sub>

ORAL

Abstract

There has been a great deal of interest in realizing unconventional quantum disordered magnetic ground states in frustrated antiferromagnets driven by strong fluctuations in the small spin limit. Experimentally, real materials often preclude this limit due to symmetry-breaking structural or magnetic processes or innate chemical disorder that lifts ground state degeneracies. NaYbO2 (R-3m) contains geometrically-frustrated triangular layers of Jeff =1/2 Yb3+ ions with ideal chemical order, a robust lattice geometry to 330 mK and lacks conventional signs of magnetic ordering under zero-field conditions to 50 mK. Under a moderate applied field, NaYbO2 enters an antiferromagnetic phase below 1 K. This material stands as an appealing candidate to realize a dynamically-disordered quantum ground state driven by highly-anisotropic, spin-orbit entangled Yb ions whose transition into a nearby field-driven magnetically-ordered phase can be probed experimentally and theoretically.

*DOE, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences under Award DE-SC0017752

–

Presenters

  • Mitchell Bordelon

    • Materials, University of California Santa Barbara

Authors

  • Mitchell Bordelon

    • Materials, University of California Santa Barbara

  • Eric Kenney

    • Physics, Boston College
    • Department of Physics, Boston College

  • Lorenzo Posthuma

    • Chemistry, University of California Santa Barbara

  • Marzieh Kavand

    • Physics, University of California Santa Barbara

  • Yuanqi Lyu

    • Physics, University of California Santa Barbara

  • Mark Stephen Sherwin

    • Physics, University of California Santa Barbara

  • Craig Brown

    • NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • NIST Center for Neutron Research

  • Michael John Graf

    • Physics, Boston College
    • Department of Physics, Boston College

  • Leon Balents

    • Physics, University of California Santa Barbara
    • Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara
    • University of California, Santa Barbara
    • Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, UCSB

  • Stephen Wilson

    • University of California, Santa Barbara
    • Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara
    • Materials, University of California Santa Barbara
    • Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara
    • UC Santa Barbara