Excitations in the Ordered and Paramagnetic States of Honeycomb Magnet Na2Co2TeO6

Weiliang Yao, Kazuki Iida, Kazuya Kamazawa, and Yuan Li
Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 147202 – Published 30 September 2022
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Abstract

Na2Co2TeO6 is a proposed approximate Kitaev magnet, yet its actual magnetic interactions are elusive due to a lack of knowledge on the full excitation spectrum. Here, using inelastic neutron scattering and single crystals, we determine the system’s temperature-dependent magnetic excitations over the entire Brillouin zone. Without committing to specific models, we unveil a distinct signature of the third-nearest-neighbor coupling in the spin waves, which signifies the associated distance as an emerging effective link in the ordered state. The presence of at least six nonoverlapping spin-wave branches is at odds with all models proposed to date. Above the ordering temperature, persisting dynamic correlations can be described by equal-time magnetic structure factors of a hexagonal cluster, which reveal the leading instabilities. Our result sets definitive constraints on theoretical models for Na2Co2TeO6 and provides new insight for the materialization of the Kitaev model.

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  • Received 8 March 2022
  • Accepted 13 September 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.147202

© 2022 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Weiliang Yao1,*,†, Kazuki Iida2, Kazuya Kamazawa2, and Yuan Li1,3,‡

  • 1International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
  • 2Neutron Science and Technology Center, Comprehensive Research Organization for Science and Society, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1106, Japan
  • 3Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China

  • *wyao4@utk.edu
  • Present address: Department of Physics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA.
  • yuan.li@pku.edu.cn

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Issue

Vol. 129, Iss. 14 — 30 September 2022

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