Unusual Thermal Hall Effect in a Kitaev Spin Liquid Candidate αRuCl3

Y. Kasahara, K. Sugii, T. Ohnishi, M. Shimozawa, M. Yamashita, N. Kurita, H. Tanaka, J. Nasu, Y. Motome, T. Shibauchi, and Y. Matsuda
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 217205 – Published 25 May 2018

Abstract

The Kitaev quantum spin liquid displays the fractionalization of quantum spins into Majorana fermions. The emergent Majorana edge current is predicted to manifest itself in the form of a finite thermal Hall effect, a feature commonly discussed in topological superconductors. Here we report on thermal Hall conductivity κxy measurements in αRuCl3, a candidate Kitaev magnet with the two-dimensional honeycomb lattice. In a spin-liquid (Kitaev paramagnetic) state below the temperature characterized by the Kitaev interaction JK/kB80K, positive κxy develops gradually upon cooling, demonstrating the presence of highly unusual itinerant excitations. Although the zero-temperature property is masked by the magnetic ordering at TN=7K, the sign, magnitude, and T dependence of κxy/T at intermediate temperatures follows the predicted trend of the itinerant Majorana excitations.

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  • Received 20 November 2017
  • Revised 17 April 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.217205

© 2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Y. Kasahara1, K. Sugii2, T. Ohnishi1, M. Shimozawa2, M. Yamashita2, N. Kurita3, H. Tanaka3, J. Nasu3, Y. Motome4, T. Shibauchi5, and Y. Matsuda1

  • 1Department of Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
  • 2Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa 277-8581, Japan
  • 3Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
  • 4Department of Applied Physics, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
  • 5Department of Advanced Materials Science, University of Tokyo, Chiba 277-8561, Japan

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Issue

Vol. 120, Iss. 21 — 25 May 2018

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