Observation of magnetic ordering in Kitaev material Ag₃LiIr₂O₆in the absence of structural disorder

The search for an ideal Kitaev material without long-range magnetic order has led to development of a new family of Kitaev magnets via topotactic cation exchange reaction. However, the structural disorder that can be produced by this method may suppress the magnetic ordering. In this talk, we present a comparative study between clean and disordered samples of Ag₃LiIr₂O₆ to highlight the effects of structural disorder on the magnetic behavior of the material. In the disordered sample, the absence of a susceptibility peak and a weakly depolarizing μSR signal suggest proximity to the Kitaev spin liquid phase. In contrast, the clean sample shows a peak in both susceptibility and heat capacity measurements with a clear oscillation in the μSR depolarization which rules out a spin liquid ground state. Our results emphasize the importance of sample quality and encourage further studies into the effects of structural disorder on this family of compounds.